


Non Reflective Mirror

by Angel_of_Gryffindor



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Protective Harry, Set in Fifth Year, best godfather sirius
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-05-20 06:40:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 27,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14889555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angel_of_Gryffindor/pseuds/Angel_of_Gryffindor
Summary: Harry hated spending his summers stuck at the Dursley's, the constant stream of chores and unable to use magic is dull, what isn't dull is Draco Malfoy falling through the bathroom mirror and demanding to be protected.From Enemies to Friends to Lovers while the Wizarding War is rising around them. COMPLETE





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everybody, an actual Harry Potter fanfic from the Gryffindor-Angel, actual miracle I know. Unfortunately as usual I had a massive burst of writing energy before it puttered out for a bit so this fic is unfinished but I'm going to wrap it up soon.  
> Hope you all enjoy

Harry hated summer and with each passing summer they seemed to be becoming worse; top reason to hate the summer holdiays was that he was away from Hogwarts, the most amazing magical school in the whole world and practically his home.  
Next reason was Harry had to spend the holidays with his vile family, whom he hated as much as they hated him; he lived with his aunt and uncle, plus his dunderhead of a cousin, very much not by his choice, nor theirs, but by Dumbeldore's.  
The madman trying to kill Harry really should have been at the top of the list; since the disaster that was the TriWizard Tournament last year and Voldemort resurrecting himself from all sorts of gross things all news had been silent but Harry knew the murderer was up to something.  
Lastly, for the whole summer, Harry had not heard a single word from any of his friends; on the first day he received a letter from Sirius telling him to be good, followed by four similar ones from Mrs Weasley, Lupin, Hagrid and Hermione; he also got a letter from Ron that had been filled with rude jokes.  
But since the first day all had been silent, even Hedwig, Harry's snowy owl, had abandoned him in favour for the night sky.  
Harry had only spoken to his aunt, even then it was her barking orders and Harry muttering a sarcastic response that she wouldn't hear.  
Today his family had all gone out for the whole day, gone to some amusement park meant to cheer Dudley up for being kicked off the rugby team for smacking someone directly, and very purposefully, in the face with his elbow.  
So Harry was all alone in the house, not something new, with a list of chores to complete before he was allowed to hide in his room; which Harry badly wanted to do so he could finally get on with his homework.  
"don't use the expensive bleach." Harry sneered as he squirted a huge amount of the expensive bleach down the sparkling toilet and an extra amount into the sink.  
Dropping the practically empty bottle into the little bin with a loud clang Harry scowled at himself in the mirror; still scrawny but taller than last year, unruly black hair sticking out in all directions and bright, yet tired, green eyes behind round framed glasses.  
Harry swept his hair from his forehead to check his wizard world famous lightning bolt scar, given to him by Voldermort when he violently murdered Harry's parents and was still red around the edges from the graveyard incident.  
Come Autumn Harry would be entering his fifth year at Hogwarts and the desire of the safety of the castle was becoming stronger with each passing day.  
Wiping vigorously at spots on the mirror that weren't really there Harry thought about the half written letters on his desk; nearly everyday he'd written letters to his friends, Sirius and Dumbledore but after the first week with no reply he sort of gave up and now only wrote the letters without sending them out.  
Suddenly Harry's eyes weren't green in the mirror anymore; they had become grey.  
Harry stepped back, cloth still in hand, and watched in horror as his reflection morphed into Draco Malfoy.  
Granted a very ruffled and distressed looking Malfoy but there was no mistaking the pale blond hair and even paler skin.  
"Potter." Malfoy suddenly said, his voice sounding distant, "Potter, let me through." he demanded.  
Harry snapped out of his shock of seeing his school enemy appearing his Muggle mirror. "er, what?" he finally said.  
"let me through." Malfoy repeated, "now would be amazing."  
Digging his wand from his back pocket Harry approached the mirror, not knowing what to do, "which spell?"  
Malfoy looked instantly frustrated, fighting the urge to roll his eyes, "just touch the bloody mirror with your wand." his eyes suddenly darted towards something on his end of the mirror.  
"why should I"? Harry asked, wand still raised, "how can I trust you?" his trust had been tested time and time again and certainly didn't trust Malfoy.  
Malfoy snapped his cool eyes back to Harry's, "you're meant to be a Savior. So save!" he snapped suddenly looking very panicked, "now!"  
Frowning Harry placed the tip of his wand to the shiny surface and it's rising soft glow spread across the mirror until Mafloy had tumbled ungracefully through the glass.  
Despite the situation, a dishevelled Malfoy falling through his mirror, Harry couldn't help but laugh at the sight before him of the blond laid in a tangled mess on the cold floor.  
"it's not funny." Malfoy snapped, trying desperately to get back to his feet, "you wouldn't understand what kind of danger I'm in."  
Harry rolled his eyes, "yeah, I have no idea what it's like to be in danger." he quipped sarcastically; Malfoy finally managed to get himself off the floor, swearing and breathing deeply as he did, "so, want to tell me why you wanted so badly to come through my mirror and into the Muggle world?" Harry asked, not putting his wand away.  
"none of your business." Malfoy told him with a clenched jaw.  
"kind of is really, since you felt the need to beg me for help --"  
"I didn't beg." Malfoy hissed but Harry ignored him.  
"-- plus this is my very anti-magic aunt and uncle's home so I really hope you are planning on walking right out the front door." Harry said as he packed away the cleaning supplies.  
Harry noticed that Malfoy had yet to have another growth spurt but, if possible, he was even thinner than before, his features looking sharp and unhealthy.  
There were two bright red patches on Malfoy's cheeks and he avoided eye contact, "so you're kicking me out?" his voice was so quiet Harry almost didn't hear him over the banging about he'd been doing with the bottles.  
Harry snorted, "you want to stay in the Muggle world?" he eyed the blond suspiciously, "are you even really Malfoy?" he tried to see if there was any indication that it was someone using Polyijuice potion, something he should have checked before.  
"trust me, none of this is by my choice." Malfoy snapped.  
Quickly squashing down some impending anger at Malfoy's impertinence for tumbling into his house and not giving a proper explanation but still not leaving or showing true intentions.  
Harry wasn't sure of the blond meant coming into the Muggle world or his obviously mistreated appearance; instead he swung open the bathroom door and thundered down the stairs to put away the supplies.  
Listening for the front door indicating Malfoy had left Harry checked the food cooking in the oven and yanked open the dishwasher; movement in the doorway caught his attention, the blond was stood there looking uncharacteristically nervous.  
For the longest moment there was silence; Harry had no real interest in why Malfoy had desperately wanted to get away from wherever he had been, he had a million of his own problems.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry could see the blond looking about the Muggle kitchen, seeming genuinely confused by everything but still hadn't said a word.  
Thinking it wasn't the best idea to leave the son of a Death Eater in the house alone was quickly replaced by seeing that the Dursley's would be back soon and the washing was still in the machine.  
"Potter." Malfoy finally spoke nearly twenty minuets later as Harry hung the washing out on the line in the sun-soaked garden.  
Moving the crisp white bedsheet to look at the blond, Harry couldn't understand why he was still there; if it was one thing Malfoy was good at it was reading the room, if there was possibility to be an annoying git then he thrived in it but something was off.  
"What?" Harry sighed.  
Malfoy tugged at his clothes; some parts were frayed while most were dirty, its obvious green colour ruined, "I need some clothes, I won't be seen like this." he said in his typical haughty way.  
"well tough." Harry huffed and continued to hang out the washing.  
Suddenly the sheet was pulled back by a slightly annoyed looking Malfoy, "you must have something that would fit me." he said lowly, "thought you're a --"  
"saviour." Harry finished the sentence with a sigh, tired of hearing people referring to him as such, "yeah, I heard you the first time. And before you start whining I don't even have clothes to fit me." he gestured casually to his oversized hand-me-downs, "so, unless you fancy wearing a floral print dress."  
Mafloy eyed the many gaudy flower dresses belonging to aunt Pertunia before screwing up his face.  
Dumping the basket back into the kitchen Harry could feel Mafloy following him slowly, he checked off the final thing on the chore list before turning on his school enemy, "is there something I can actually do for you Malfoy?" he could feel his temper finally rising, "because something obviously happened." Harry gestured to the blond's unkept appearance, "and I dunno if you've noticed, or have paid any attention to anything but yourself, I've got a lot on my plate already."  
"not everything is about you Potter, I'm in trouble." Malfoy snapped.  
Harry rolled his eyes, "you've said, so why come to me?" he demanded.  
"because you're the --"  
"say I'm the saviour one more bloody time and I'll hex you." Harry shouted, drawing his wand and not caring about the consequences.  
The was a flicker of a smile on Malfoy's face but it quickly vanished, "so the great Harry Potter is throwing my back to the wolves?"  
Harry thought over Malfoy's words; there had been his usual drawl but he had definitely been hinting about something.  
Unfortunately he didn't get chance to give a proper answer as he heard uncle Vernon's fancy company car pulling into the driveway.  
Grabbing Malfoy's thin arm Harry unceremoniously hauled the blond up the stairs, ignoring his explanations of protest of being handled as such, making sure he was out of sight in the upstairs hallway seconds before the front door swung open.  
Dudley lumbered in first, still looking angry and now a little green in the face, he shoved Harry onto the steps as he passed and disappeared into the kitchen.  
Pertunia and Vernon followed talking in hushed voices, barely acknowledging Harry, "did you finish everything boy?" Vernon spat, back still turned.  
"yes." Harry said shortly, "did you have a nice time, Dudley looks very cheered up."   
For a second Harry thought Vernon was going to round on him and force him into the cupboard under the stairs, like the hundreds of times he'd done during Harry's childhood, but Vernon seemed to remember that Harry's dearly devoted godfather was a convicted murderer and instead slammed the door.  
Harry scrambled up the stairs, instantly horrified that Malfoy had gone, his heart thudding as he thought of all the possibilities of where the blond had gone and why he'd even been there in the first place.  
"probably sent as a scout for his father under Voldermort's orders." Harry scorned himself for ever letting Malfoy though the mirror.  
"is this your room Potter?" Malfoy was standing in the doorway of Dudley's room, a confused disgusted look on his face.  
A small feeling of relief washed over Harry and he felt weird afterwards; he certainly wasn't happy that Malfoy was still there but relieved the vital information that Harry Potter was left alone during the days had yet to leave the house.  
Inside Dudley's room was crammed full of expensive work out equipment, two televisions, the latest games console complete with hundreds of games and an unmade double bed; the smell of overweight teenage boy who refused to open windows was overwhelming.  
"over here idiot." Harry hissed, grabbing Malfoy again and pulling him across the hall to his room.  
"this is worse." Malfoy muttered looking around Harry's barely furnished room, still full of broken toys and Harry's Hogwarts belongings scattered everywhere.  
"well, sorry your lordship, we can't all have everything we ever wanted." Harry snapped, ear pressed to the door listening to the Dursley's downstairs.  
Suddenly there were footfalls on the stairs and panic leapt through Harry, "shit, in here." he ungracefully shoved Malfoy into the wardrobe not a second too soon as Pertunia flung open the door.  
"what did you cook?" Pertunia demanded, looking unhappy, her thin neck looking even thinner.  
Hand placed firmly on the wardrobe door Harry tried to make his face casual, instead of the flushed mess it must have been, "what you wanted, steak and kidney pies, from scratch." he told her breathlessly.  
"then why is the kidney still in the fridge?" Pertunia asked shrilly.  
Harry cursed himself, hoping she'd not noticed, he'd not put them in since he didn't like kidney and knew he'd be left with all of Dudley's, "did I forget them?" Harry forged innocence.  
Pertunia raised a bony fingers, looking more deadly than any wand, looking about ready to shout more at him but her light eyes flickered to the letters on his desk and suddenly looked worried, obviously scared Harry would write to Sirius.  
"don't do it again." Pertunia hissed, baring teeth, "and so you don't forget, you can have the kidney whenever you decide to finally cook it." and she slammed the door.  
With a loud groan Harry flopped down on his bed face-first and was vaguely aware of Malfoy removing himself from the wardrobe, "I think you have ingredients in there from first year." the blond mocked, then seemed annoyed that Harry wasn't giving him any of the responses he was used to, "they always talk to you like that?"  
Rolling over Harry frowned at the blond, "why do you care?" he countered.  
Pink appeared in Malfoy's cheeks and he looked away, "I don't."  
"good." Harry huffed and dragged himself from the bed to sit at his desk in front of all the unfinished letters.   
For the longest moment Harry stared aimlessly at the letters before him, knowing that even if he sent them he'd receive no answer, and then became acutely aware of Malfoy slowly creeping up behind him; in a swift movement Harry swept all the letters into a drawer and slamming it tightly shut.  
"what's your plan Malfoy?" Harry sighed; usually if they'd spent this much time together at school there would have been year long detentions, painful hexes and bruised egos but things felt different, "are you just going to hang about behind me all summer?"  
Malfoy huffed, "this wasn't my first plans for the holidays, trust me."  
Standing suddenly Harry finally faced the blond, "for some stupid reason I did trust you." he snapped, "when i let you through that mirror and you have yet to tell me what has happened, which is a bit bloody important."  
For a second Malfoy looked ready to argue, opening and shutting his mouth a few times, before sighing deeply and sinking onto the bed, "I believe you that You-Know-Who is back." he said quietly.  
Harry frowned, not sure he'd heard the blond right, but the soft, unguarded look on Malfoy's usual sneering face threw him off, "and, where did that realisation come from?" he asked slowly.  
"because he's taken over my home." Malfoy confessed.  
There was a beat of silence before Harry's brain processed the information, "Voldermort is at Malfoy Manor?" Harry said stiflingly, ignoring the blond's flinch at the mention of Voldermort's name.  
Malfoy pulled at his damaged clothes, "it's an ancient manor filled with magical propitiates, plenty of places to hide, plenty of HouseElves to abuse and a family with no backbone to say yes to every whim." he rushed out, scowling deeply.  
Looking the blond up and down Harry wasn't sure how to respond, "when?" he finally asked.  
"before I even came home from school, he was waiting for us when we arrived back." Malfoy confessed, looking more distressed, "there are Death Eaters on every floor, following me around my own home."  
"did they do that to you?" Harry asked, gesturing to the bruises and unkept clothes.  
Malfoy shrugged, "not all at once." he muttered.  
A prang of sympathy appeared in Harry's chest, he quickly chastised himself for feeling sorry for Malfoy; not just for himself either, if the blond knew 'The Great Harry Potter' was going to pity him, danger or not Mafloy would hex him into the past.  
"okay, look." Harry said as he dropped onto the bed next to Malfoy, "you can stay here until school starts again." he quickly held up his hand to stop Malfoy from speaking, "but you've got to obey by the rules."  
"you have rules?" Mafloy asked, his features seeming to relax and he even mustered a smile.  
Harry rolled his eyes, "my aunt and uncle can't know you're here. At all." he said firmly, "we'd better write to Dumbledore too, let him know where you are."  
"thought Dumbledore knew everything." Mafloy muttered.  
"and finally," Harry continued ignoring the blond, "we'll have to learn to get along." he almost couldn't believe he was offering an olive branch to his enemy.  
Malfoy quirked an eyebrow, "you want us to be friends?"  
"I want to get through the rest of this holiday with all my limbs and memories." Harry expressed, "think we can do that?"  
"just for the summer." Malfoy stated.  
Harry nodded, "obviously, once school starts up again we can go straight back to being enemies." he assured the blond.  
Nodding too Malfoy held out his hand, the action mirroring four years previous, and unlike last time Harry gripped it firmly.  
Saying they'd get along and actually getting along were two different things; as night fell Harry had managed to pursued Malfoy into a pair of spare pyjamas, after much whining and huffing, now came the problem of sleeping arrangements.  
"I'm the guest, I should sleep in the bed." Malfoy said haughtily.  
"not a chance, it's my room, my bed." Harry argued.  
The single bed had already been broken by Vernon years before Harry had been allowed to sleep it in, when his large uncle had stood on it trying put something onto a shelf; Pertunia had fixed it with a couple of boxes underneath.  
"we could take turns?" Harry suggested.  
Malfoy shook his head, "unacceptable. I get unbearable if I don't sleep properly."  
"of course you do." Harry sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly, "look, maybe we can both fit." he was getting too tired to argue.  
"I've never shared a bed before." Malfoy confessed.  
Harry climbed in first since he preferred sleeping close to the wall, "first time for everything."  
Causiously the blond climbed in next to Harry; despite both being pratically fifteen they both managed to fit in the single bed, as long as one of them was sleeping on their side.  
"goodnight Potter." Malfoy said softly into the darkness.  
Harry, too sleepy to speak, hummed a goodnight and hoped he get some sleep; it was certainly wishful thinking.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter has a little warning for suggest/possible non-con to Draco, it's nothing explicit or detailed but if it's something that makes you uncomfortable then here's the warning

Barely an hour later Harry was woken by his usual nightmare about the graveyard; flashes of Cedric dying, surrounded by black cloaked figures and from the bubbling cauldren rose Voldermort, his manic laughter echoing through Harry's brain.  
Harry jolted awake, slamming his hand over his mouth to stop calling out, his breathing ragged he went to roll over only to remember that Malfoy was occupying the rest of the bed, so he quickly wiped the sweat from his face and tried to go back to sleep.  
Malfoy wriggled, huffed and turned over every couple of minuets, Harry was glad the wall was there or he'd already been on the floor, trying his best to ignore the shuffling, bony body next to him the last straw came when Malfoy commandeered the only pillow.  
"do you want to stop?" Harry hissed.  
Even in the darkness Mafloy's grey eyes stood out, "it'd hardly my fault you bed is so uncomfortable." he hissed back.  
"then maybe you'd like to go back to your mansion, I'm sure you'd be much comfier there." Harry snapped and turned back towards the wall.  
Malfoy had gone very still, "you woke me first." he mutter quietly and Harry elbowed him so hard he remains still for the rest of the night but it was far from restful.  
For the next four days Harry did his best to hide the ungrateful blond in his room, who was doing nothing but complain, he still had to do all his chores and whenever everyone was out did he allow Malfoy out of his room.  
Smuggling food had been difficult before, when it had just been for Harry, but now he had to feed another, who complained about everything; Malfoy especially disapproved of the unseasoned, dry bowl of kidney they had been forced to share.  
"why don't you buy your own food?" Malfoy asked, sniffing a cold can of soup Harry had handed him.  
Harry snorted, "with what money?" he laughed humorlessly; Malfoy's grey eyes darted to the velvet bag of Galleons sitting on the desk, "that's useless here." he reminded the blond firmly.  
"why not ask your friends to send you food, I'm sure even poor ass Weasley would send you stuff." Malfoy mentioned with no bite.  
Harry scowled, biting his tongue, thinking about Ron and Hermione hurt a little, since he'd not heard from them and often missed Pig flying through his window with home-baked treats and funny letters.  
"eat you food." Harry snapped and went downstairs to tidy.  
"I should be allowed to go to the bathroom any time I choose." Malfoy snapped one lunchtime when Pertunia had finally left and the blond had been allowed to freely use the facilities, "it's a basic human right."  
Harry rolled his eyes, it was bad enough having to listen to Malfoy whine about the lack of food and the lack of sleep they were both getting but listening to someone who was practically a refugee complain about everything was beginning to grate on Harry.  
Even worse was that Harry couldn't vent about his frustrations to anyone and trying to hide an uninvited guest from the neighbours meant he couldn't go out beyond the garden.  
"are you listening?" Malfoy snapped emerging from the bathroom, his hair glistening wet.  
"no." Harry stated simply.  
Following the rountine of the past few mornings Malfoy stood close by as Harry cleaned the kitchen and living room and gladly followed into the garden, so Harry had started to make use of the loitering blond by making him hold stuff like clean plates, washing ready to be hung up and, just for a laugh, one of Dudley's dumbbells.  
"you should have a HouseElf to do all this." Malfoy said casually, examining one of Pertunia's weird looking gnomes, some gardening tools hanging from his hands, "Muggles are weird."  
Harry huffed, the back of his neck burning from the sun, brushed mud off his hands, "HouseElves aren't a thing in the Muggle world. 'Ungrateful, unwanted nephews' are a different thing." Harry mocked his uncle's scathing voice.  
Malfoy gave him a strange look, a slight crease between his pale eyebrows, "I want to go out." he said instead, placing the tools down definitely.  
Laughing humorlessly Harry got off his knees, "and go where?"  
"anywhere but here. This place is vile." Malfoy shrugged, "and the people in it." he was looking over his shoulder at the huge photo of the Dursley's that hung over the fireplace; a gaudy family photoshoot where they all had worn matching clothes.  
Thinking it over Harry would have been happy to leave but every neighbour on Privet Drive knew everyone's business, they'd been lucky so far that nobody had spotted the blond in the garden or Harry's bedroom window.  
However, if Harry had to spend one more day cooped up in the house with Malfoy whining, his aunt and uncle sniping at him and Dudley taking swipes at him whenever he felt like it, he felt he'd go mad; it didn't help that his way of venting, writing letters he'd never send, had been put on hold in case Malfoy saw anything Private.  
"alright, we'll go to the park." Harry said and held apart the hedge beside him, revelling a closed off back ally.  
Malfoy frowned as he approached the hedge, "you expect me to go through there?"  
"stop whining Malfoy, or I'll leave you here with the microwave." Harry threatened, trying not to to laugh at the memory of the previous day seeing the blond freak out a little over the microwave.  
"that thing is unnatural." Malfoy huffed and climbed through the hedge.  
"we're the unnatural ones here." Harry commented and followed.  
It was nice to be out stretching his legs and enjoying the sun in some other place than the back of his neck; Harry and Malfoy walked side by side in silence, it wasn't as comforting if Harry had been walking with either Ron or Hermione, even Neville gave good convocation, but it wasn't as awkward as he'd thought.  
"why is everything so bland?" Malfoy suddenly said as they made their way towards the little park behind the houses.  
Harry felt like smacking his head off a fence post but resisted, "are you going to complain for the whole holiday?" he sighed deeply.  
Two pink spots appeared on Malfoy's pale cheeks, "I'm not complaining."   
"well it bloody sounds like it and has sounded like it for the past four days. If you have a real problem with being kept safe then maybe you should shut it." Harry said flatly, shoving his hands deep into his pockets.  
Suddenly Malfoy grabbed Harry's arm, stopping him, a conflicted look on his face, "this is hard for me."  
"yes, being you must be so hard." Harry rolled his eyes and continued walking.  
Malfoy stumbled after him, "it's not all pleasant if you must know." he said breathlessly, trying to keep up, "my father is impossible to please, my mother coddles me, I have a home full of Death Eaters and werewolves creeping into my bed at night..."  
Stopping dead Harry turned to the blond, looking sternly at him, "what?" he breathed.  
Malfoy looked embarrassed he'd revelled so much but soon his shoulders sagged, "You-Know-Who's followers go wherever they please in my home, including my room."  
For a moment Harry didn't know what to say, no matter what the Dursleys never properly came into his room, since he was a wizard they were afraid of his personal belongings but when Ginny had trashed Harry's part of the dorm in second year looking for the diary he'd felt violated.  
Another sickening thought popped into Harry's mind, "you said they were in your bed."  
The light wind around them seemed suddenly loud until Malfoy seemed to click, "no, nothing happened!" he exclaimed and stepped away, panic on his pale face, "they wouldn't dare."  
Harry exhaled loudly, "okay, good." he said pointlessly.  
The pair carried on walking in silence, neither knowing what to say after their convocation; eventually the park came into sight, it was a run down area with a pair of swings, a roundabout and a rickety slide, all the paint was chipping away and nobody ever came to it except Harry and drug dealers.  
Without even pausing Malfoy sat on the swing next to Harry, the sun warm on their faces; in the far distance Harry could hear traffic and children playing in their gardens, the sky was clear and the breeze was starting to die down again for another swelting night.  
"why are you running from them? I thought you grew up around Death Eaters." Harry asked, trying to ignore is growling stomach.  
Malfoy glanced over, swinging gently, "for someone who never knew he was a wizard till he was eleven you ask a lot of questions."  
"I have ten years to make up for." Harry shrugged and waited for the blond to answer the original question.  
A small, natural smile crept onto Malfoy's face before he got a little serious, "my parents friends were never active Death Eaters while I was a child." he confessed, "even if they were, they weren't allowed to speak to me."  
"what's different now?" Harry asked pointlessly.  
"now I'm older they want things from me." Malfoy muttered, "not those kind of things." he added firmly when Harry's face fell, "I don't think."   
Harry turned on the swing so he could see Malfoy's face properly; whenever he'd thought of Malfoy the image in his brain was of a pale, pointy, stuck-up bastard who cared about no-one and even though all the blond had done since seeking help from Harry was complain, something had changed.  
"were you scared?" Harry asked softly.  
For a second Malfoy looked insulted but as his eyes darted about to see nobody around, his pale face relaxed, "I heard them talking, about marking me." he hesitantly showed Harry a cross cut into his skin on his arm, "one of the werewolves did it before I could wake up." he confessed.  
"I've got one of those." Harry said and showed him where Wormtail had cut him for his blood.  
Malfoy sighed, crossing his arms tightly, "I know you think I'm a massive git." he muttered and Harry couldn't hold back the laugh, "but I had a long think and thought that, maybe, I don't want that." he finished slowly.  
"thought it was all you ever wanted." Harry said.  
Malfoy gave a small, unhappy laugh, "all my father wanted. And now I look at him bowing and cowering to You-Know-Who it certainly doesn't look like the better side." he told Harry sadly.  
Harry quickly looked away; as Malfoy had been talking his mind had wondered a little, taking in the blond's pale skin, turning slightly pink in the sun, his eye lashes just as pale and grey eyes flecked with blue and suddenly a flutter of butterflies had appeared in Harry's stomach.  
After the disaster of fancying and trying to flirt with Cho Chang the year before Harry had sworn off girls and had started preferring being in the company of boys, since boys seemed to understand what was going on and even if they didn't, Harry found it easier to talk to a boy than any girl.  
But all that didn't mean Harry liked boys, not that the idea offended Harry, it was just the whole world expected him to end up with a girl, have a family he'd never had before; unfortunately that expectation was slipping away the longer he spent in natural company of Malfoy.  
"so, you're on goods side now then?" Harry asked clearing his throat loudly, shaking other thoughts from his brain.  
Malfoy shot him a funny look but smiled, "guess so. Not that any of your lot would be happy about it."  
Harry waved him off, "I'll deal with them Draco, one way or another."  
The blond gaped at Harry and he knew it, a sly smile on his face as he swung higher; Harry figured if they were on the same side, not exactly friends, the least they could do was call each other by their first names.  
"you going to stop being a whining sod now?" Harry teased.  
Draco aimed a friendly shove in Harry's direction as he swung past, but missed, "I don't whine."  
"any more." Harry stuck his tongue, feeling relaxed.  
"maybe you should whine more Harry, then your family would back off." Draco mentioned in a good hearted way but Harry skidded to a stop.  
Harry frowned, "if I whined at my family, I'd be back in the cupboard under the stairs." he said lowly.  
"under the stairs?" Draco asked, frowning too.  
Shaking off the sudden sombre mood Harry began swinging again, "let's just say your father wasn't the only one who expected you to be something you're not."  
The sun was beginning to go down and Harry knew they'd have to get back soon, but just sitting there with Draco was calming now; their once fighting was replaced with teasing, once in a while something would be said that spoiled the mood but they soon moved on.  
"look who's coming this way?" Draco suddenly said, squinting off into the distance.  
Looking around Harry saw Dudley and his gang of upper-middle class twits, all decked out in gold chains and little brain cells.  
"ugh, Dudley." Harry groaned.  
Draco definitely looked offended, "can't believe you're related to that troll?" he spat.  
Harry and Dudley never looked alike, much to Harry's pleasure; Dudley had always been twice a wide as Harry and now he was much taller but Harry could both outwit and outrun the blond idiot.  
"don't mention Hogwarts." Harry whispered as Dudley and his gang came closer, obviously looking for some entertainment.  
"Alright Potter!" Dudley called.  
Draco scowled, seeming to hate his previous greetings of Harry coming out of another, but kept his mouth shut and head down.  
"Alright Duddy-kins." Harry mocked.  
Dudley turned a funny colour, gripping the metal fence with white knuckles, "shut it Potter." his small piggy eyes darted to Draco, "who's this? Your new boyfriend." he laughed stupidly and his gang did too.  
"he's an actual troll." Draco whispered and Harry snorted, nodding.   
"what are you doing out here?" Harry asked loudly over their dumb laughter, "there aren't any ten year olds to beat up out here."  
Dudley immediately stopped laughing, the neanderthal scowl back on his face, "what do you know about it?" he growled.  
"I know you beat up Alan Jeffers the other week." Harry said casually.  
"he was looking at me funny." Dudley grumped.  
"he's got a lazy eye." Harry reminded him, "plus looking like that, anyone would look at you funny." he gestured to the Nylon outfits Dudley and his gang were decked out in.  
Moving quicker than normal Dudley swung open the gate and tramped towards them; Draco seemed to panic quicker and reached for his wand, Harry placed his hand on the blond's arm to stop him pulling it out on a Muggle.  
Dudley's tiny eyes regarded his shorter cousin, a sneering, smug look crossing his face, "does your boyfriend know you call out for 'Cedric' every night?"  
"you don't know what you're talking about." Harry snapped, colour appearing in his cheeks at thought of Dudley hearing his nightmares.  
"I'm not his boyfriend." Draco suddenly said, unable to keep his mouth shut if he wasn't allowed to use his wand, "but I am his friend, so back off."  
A funny feeling spread through Harry when Draco stated they were friends, even though they'd agreed they wouldn't come out of the summer friends, things weren't going the way Harry had expected.  
Dudley looked the skinny blond up and down, not intimidated by his small structure or well worn clothes, and loomed in close; Dudley didn't get to say anything before Draco yanked out his wand, holding it close to Dudley's nose.  
For all his bravado and macho act Dudley knew all too well the danger of a wand, especially if it was pointed at him, stumbling back with wide eyes Dudley didn't take his eyes from the wand, "you're one of those freaks too." he hissed.  
Unfortunately Dudley's gang didn't understand the danger of a wand and thought Dudley was cowering from a stick.  
"what's the matter Big-D?" rat faced Pierres asked, looking weighed down by his gold chains.  
Harry rolled his eyes, forced Draco to lower his wand, "Big-D?" he snorted; after a full childhood of hearing Pertunia coming up with millions of nicknames for Dudley, that one was certainly one of the funniest.  
"shut up you!" Dudley shouted, "or I'll tell mum you're stealing food."  
"aw, going to tell mummy on me." Harry simpered mockingly, trying edge around Dudley's huge frame to get out of the park, tugging Draco with him.  
Dudley turned a funny colour again, "at least I'm not a pathetic little freak." he snapped.  
"great comeback." Harry sniped and decided to climb over the fence to get away; watching Draco climb over the metal fence was pretty amusing; it seemed Dudley was so furious he hadn't moved to stop him.  
However as Harry and Draco made their way back to the house he heard Dudley say goodbye to his gang and follow them with heavy footsteps.  
"is that how you saw me? Like him." Draco suddenly asked in a quiet voice.  
Harry glanced over his shoulder at Dudley before looking at Draco; with their blond hair, stuck up attitudes, over-baring mothers and tendency to brag and bully, there certainly were some similarities.  
"yeah, I think I did see you as another Dudley, one that had followed me into a place i thought I'd finally be free." Harry mused softly.  
"I-I'm so..." Draco began but Harry cut him off quickly.  
"it's fine. What happened between us was different, we were on equal grounds, whether you like it or not." Harry teased, trying to lighten the mood, "it completely different now."  
Suddenly Draco gave a small groan, "ugh, why do you have to be so bloody understanding?"  
"are you going to kiss or not!" Dudley suddenly shouted, like they'd forgotten he was behind them.  
"why? Going to watch?" Harry shouted back.  
The retaliation died on Dudley's tongue; the warm summer dusk had instantly become unbearably cold, almost enough for ice to form on the grass, all three of them stopped dead.


	4. Chapter 4

"this feels familiar." Draco whispered, reaching for his wand again.  
"eerily so." Harry said, reaching for his own wand before he heard the distant, familiar screaming of his mother worming through his head, "Dementors."  
As panicked as Harry and Draco were, unfortunate memories popping up from third year, they had no idea the Dementors effect on Muggles; just the cold seemed to have brought Dudley to his knees, shivering violently and looking about ready to vomit.  
"crap." Harry hissed making his way towards Dudley, "help me get him up." he said to Draco.  
Reluctantly Draco helped pick the heavy blond off the floor, he'd become dead weight and even between them they struggled, "what would Dementors be doing here?" Draco huffed.  
"who knows, lets get back quickly." Harry said.  
The further they walked, Dudley sagging between them, the colder it became; wherever the Dementors were, they were close; stumbling onto Privet Drive the three stopped dead as the haunting shadows floated into view.  
At least eight Dementors whisper towards them, sensing their fears, feeding off them already as they swooped in closer; instantly Harry let go of Dudley, Draco dropping him too out of shock but no regret, and pulled out his wand.  
The Dementors surrounded them, icy winds whirling around them, one of them swooped in on Dudley's fallen frame who shuddered but didn't move.  
Draco stumbled back wand drawn too but a terrified look on his pale face, The Dementors sensed him too and the blond staggered a little.  
"come here idiot." Harry snapped, his mother's voice screaming in his head, as he grabbed Draco to stand next to him; raising his wand he forced through his precious happy memory, "EXPECTO PATRONAM!"  
Glowing Prongs sprang from Harry's wand, galloping towards the Dementors, driving them away from Dudley, turning around the stag circled Harry and Draco forcing away the remaining Dementors before sinking pleasantly back into the wand.  
The Dementors vanished as quickly as they came, not leaving a single trace that they had ever been.  
The warm summer air returned and Harry let out breath he didn't know he was holding, suddenly aware Draco was gripping his arm tightly, "let's get back." he finally said softly.  
"that was a Patronas." Draco gasped, eyes wide, "you summoned a full Patronas."  
Harry raised an eyebrow, "yeah, Lupin taught me third year." he mentioned, "you've seen me use it."  
"but last time you used it, it was just a ball." Draco mentioned, still not letting go of Harry.  
Frowning slightly as Harry remembered the Quiddich match when he'd used the charm on Draco, who had snuck onto the pitch to scare Harry, "I've improved, since this was a real threat." he teased slightly, hoping to lighten the mood.  
"what's going on here?" came a voice from the dark corner of Privet Drive.  
Hurrying to pick Dudley back off the floor, who looked even greener than before, Harry and Draco turned to the voice; it was Ms Figg, the mad, old cat woman who lived on the next street, Harry hadn't seen her since starting Hogwarts but she looked the same; long coat with too many pockets, probably filled with cat treats, wild hair under a flower hat and pulling a trolley behind her.  
Ms Figg eyed the boys before smiling kindly, showing yellow-ish teeth, "that was an impressive Patronas Harry." she said kindly, "let's get that lump home." she gestured to Dudley, "before he pukes on your shoes"  
"are you a witch?" Draco asked before Harry could.  
Before answering Ms Figg began to walk away, gesturing for them to follow her, "a Squib my dear, rather a disappointment to my parents really, but I'm making myself useful." she told them with a smile.  
"why did you never tell me?" Harry asked, remembering the many times he'd been stuck in Ms Figg's living room, being forced to look at photos of her cats for hours on end but he'd never seen an ounce of any kind of magical family.  
"didn't seem important." Ms Figg's shrugged, "I'll have to send a letter to Dumbledore, tell him what's happened."  
"you saw the Dementors then." Draco questioned, "I thought only wizards could see them."  
"oh, I couldn't see them, but I couldn't definitely feel them." Ms Figg laughed humorlessly, "now hurry up and get home."  
Harry bit his tongue for questioning Ms Figg's about her contact with Dumbledore as they came to the drive of number 4, "did you always know I was a wizard?" he asked instead.  
"of course I did silly boy!" Ms Figg, "even as a Squib I heard all about you." she smiled before eyes flickering to Draco, "I know all about your family too." she said a little more seriously; in the dying sunlight Harry saw pink appear in Draco's face and he looked away, "it's nice to see you being friends with Harry." Ms Figg added quickly.  
Without thinking Harry and Draco dragged Dudley through the front door together, at the sound of the front door slamming Pertunia strod into the hall and nearly collapsed at the sight of her son.  
"oh my poor Duddy-kins!" Pertunia exclaimed shrilly, "Vernon!" Vernon waddled into the hallways, his usual smart work shirt was open to fight the heat.  
The moment Dudley was sat heavily into one of the chairs in the living room he vomited in the waste paper basket; Harry stood awkwardly in the doorway, very aware of Draco behind him and was planning on sneaking away but Pertunia's sharp voice stopped him.  
"what did you do?" she snapped, not moving from her position of being wrapped around her beastly son.  
"nothing." Harry said honestly, "we were attacked."  
"by Dementors." Draco added and Harry hit him on the arm for spurting out magic in the house.  
Vernon and Pertunia's eyes swivelled to Draco, looking ready to explode, "and who the bloody hell are you?" Vernon growled.  
Trying to shove Draco out of the way Harry stepped them both back, "that doesn't matter."  
"rude." Draco whispered and received another hit.  
Suddenly a huge dark brown owl flew into the room, Pertuina screamed as the owl dropped a bright red envelope on the coffee table before flying out of the window with a loud screech.  
With bated breath Harry stared at the envelope; it was definitely a Howler but he couldn't think who would send him one.  
"you have to open it." Draco whispered, "it'll explode."  
Harry reached for the envelope but Vernon slapped his hand away, despite the letter beginning to smoke, "no bloody magic in the this house!" he roared.  
"fine." Harry snapped and placed his hands definitely over his ears, indicting for Draco to do the same.  
Upon finally exploding Harry was informed that The Ministry would be arriving soon to snap his wand for using magic outside of school, before ripping itself up and leaving a deafening silence.  
"you never said you weren't allowed to use magic outside of that school of yours." Vernon snarled through clenched teeth.  
"that doesn't make any sense." Draco said, "didn't they know about the rogue Dementors?"  
Harry sighed, trying to quell the panic tightening in his stomach, "welcome to my world, where nothing makes sense."  
"you leave this house!" Pertunia shouted, waving a threatening finger at Harry, eyes wild, "I won't have it any more!"  
"that's fine by me! Who'd want to stay in this hell hole any longer!" Harry shouted back, gripping his wand tightly as he was now terrified of loosing his wand.  
"Harry." Draco said firmly and pointed to the kitchen counter where the another owl was waiting; this one was a thin one with huge eyebrows and was holding a letter baring the Hogwarts crest, it was addressed to Pertunia.  
"why is Dumbledore writing to you?" Harry snapped, still not calmed down.  
With shaking fingers Pertunia took the letter and read it quickly; she went from red, to pale and back again a few times before scrunching up the letter and taking huge breath, "go up to your room." she said tightly.  
"I want to read the letter." Harry demanded, getting flashbacks from four years ago when his first letter to Hogwarts arrived.  
"Go to your room! And take your friend." Pertunia shouted looking ready to cry.  
A vase across the room exploded due to Harry's anger as he stormed upstairs, Draco close him; inside his bedroom Harry began packing various things, if nothing he was going to be gone from the house, whether the Dursley's allowed him or not.  
"what are you doing?" Draco asked, "you can't be serious about running away, I know you have little brain cells Harry but the Ministry will find you." he rationalised.  
"I don't care, we're leaving." Harry snapped.  
"but Dumbledore said to stay put." Draco said holding out the letter Pertunia had received.  
Harry snatched the letter, "how did you get this?"  
"small magic goes under the radar." Draco told him smugly, waving his own wand, "Muggle didn't notice anything."  
Harry skimmed the letter, reminding himself to thank Draco later; from what his brain allowed to take in was that Dumbledore was reminding Pertuina about some agreement about allowing Harry to stay at the house till he was seventeen also that Draco was now under their protection too.  
Screwing the letter up again Harry sat heavily on the bed, "stuck here." he sighed, "easier for the Ministry I guess."  
The bed creaked as Draco sank next to him, soon a tentative hand was placed in a somewhat comforting way on Harry's shoulder and he was grateful of the gesture, "they won't snap your wand, Dumbledore won't let them." Draco said the Headmaster's name tightly but with no bite.  
"think this might be a bit out of Dumbledore's control." Harry sighed, eyes darting to the drawer full of unfinished letters.  
"you always bang on about how Dumbledore is the greatest, surely he can convince them it was all in self-defence." Draco said calmly.  
Part of Harry's brain knew the blond was right, a great wizard like Dumbledore could do anything and he'd be more inclined to believe that the Headmaster would help if he'd answered any of the letters Harry had sent.  
Night had set in and there had been no sign of the Ministry, not that it made Harry sleep any better, Draco seemed to be pretending to sleep and Harry was grateful that he wasn't trying to make him talk about it or try to make him feel forcefully better.  
In the quietness of the house Harry could hear everything, from the Dursley's finally going to bed, with Dudley vomiting again and his aunt and uncle talking in quiet, snappy voices, to the hum of the boiler and finally, as it turned three in the morning, the sound of heavy footsteps coming through the front door.  
Harry sat bolt upright with his wand clutched tightly in hand, Draco sat up too and they slowly climbed out of bed to investigate.  
"what if it's the Ministry?" Draco whispered as Harry pulled the door open as quietly as possible.  
"The Ministry make a big show of things, no matter how much they prattle on about keeping things secret." Harry whispered back, "why be quiet when you can Oblivarate everyone."  
The hallway was dark but there were spots of light coming from the downstairs hall, there were snippets of hushed convocations before one of the lights flooded onto the stairs and Harry could finally see how had come into the house.  
Looked unbearably out of place in the Muggle middle-class hallway was Mad-Eye Moody, his bright blue whirring eye taking in everything it shouldn't be and he gave a crooked grin.  
Behind him was Lupin, still looking tired and patched up but a little happier, he gave Harry a big smile; there was also a pink haired woman, she was young but was decked out in heavy dragon skin boots and a bright purple coat.  
"whatcha Harry." the woman was the first one to speak, she was brash but enthusiastic.  
Lupin bounced up the stairs, his tired brown eyes darting to Draco, "oh, Mr Malfoy too." a small frown, "how, odd."  
Harry embraced Lupin tightly, glad to see a familiar face, "he's in trouble. Voldermort in his home." he whispered quickly into his ex-teacher's ear.  
Pulling away Lupin gave Draco a small smile, holding out his hand, "good to see you again Mr Malfoy." he said pleasantly.  
Draco looked a little shocked but still took Lupin's hand tightly, "hello Prof--Lupin." he corrected himself quickly and Lupin pretended not to notice.  
"good to see you Potter." Mad-Eye stomped up the stairs, "Malfoy, not still sporting fur are you?"   
Harry quickly put his hand on Draco's arm so he didn't start shouting at Mad-Eye for something the older man didn't even do, "it wasn't him." he quickly whispered earning a frown, "it was Barty Croach Jr." Draco looked confused but nodded and kept his mouth shut.  
"this is Nymphadora Tonks." Mad-Eye said gesturing to the pink haired woman.  
In an instant her pink hair turned blazing red, she looked furious, "don't call me that." she growled, "it's Tonks and you know it."  
Mad-Eye waved off her anger, "anyway, go get your stuff Harry, don't forget your broom. Go on then." he told Harry firmly; Harry went to open his mouth to ask the hundreds of questions that had been building up since the start of the hoildays but Mad-Eye held up a gnarled hand, "hold all ya questions till we get there." he said gruffly.  
"where's there?" Draco asked.  
"didn't I say all questions could wait?" Mad-Eye snapped, "get your stuff."  
Quickly Harry shoved all his stuff unceremoniously into his trunk, not bothering to fold anything, before dragging it out into the hallway with Draco carrying the FireBolt; not bothering to be quiet Tonks bumped the trunk down the stairs and out the door.  
On the lawn were three other broomsticks, Lupin and Tonks strapped Harry's trunk between their brooms while Mad-Eye instantly rested on his own.  
"stay close and don't get lost in the clouds." Mad-Eye told Harry firmly.  
"we'll be right beside you." Lupin smiled knowing Harry had never flown anywhere but in the safety of Hogwarts.  
Taking the FireBolt from Draco, Harry dared to ask at least one question, "what about the Ministry, they're coming to snap my wand." he told them.  
Mad-Eye scoffed, "the Ministry can stick that up their tight backsides." he snorted before kicking off from the ground.  
"Dumbledore is sorting it." Tonks told him with a toothy smile, "you'll get away with a slap on the wrist, you watch." but it didn't make Harry feel any better.  
Swinging onto his own broom Harry looked back at Draco, "come on then." he said.  
"we're sharing a broom?" Draco asked.  
"what? You want to share with me?" Mad-Eye chuckled.  
Seeming to panic Draco climbed onto the back of the FireBolt and Harry felt hesitant arms wrap around his torso; Harry had to fight not to let the butterflies in his stomach from getting any bigger as he felt Draco's heat on his back.  
"I swear Harry, if you drop me, I'll come back to haunt you." Draco hissed in his ear.  
"more than you already haunt me?" Harry joked and kicked off.  
Harry didn't even spare number 4 or Privet Drive a backwards glance as he soared into the night clouds.  
The air up high was cooling, flying freely was exhilarating and Harry had to pull all his self-control not to swoop away through the clouds; all too soon they were flying lower and Big Ben came into sight.  
"what are we doing in London?" Draco shouted to the adults but was ignored.  
Soon they came to land in the a quiet street, nothing magical or special about it until Mad-Eye read from a small piece of paper and a whole building shoved its way out from between two others.


	5. Chapter 5

"welcome to 12 Grimswald Place." Tonks said.  
"Grimswald Place? I've heard of that." Draco told them and suddenly both Lupin and Mad-Eye looked panicked.  
"where did you hear of it boy, your father?" Mad-Eye snarled.  
"no, my mother. It's the Black family home right?" Draco commented quickly.  
A shot of excitement leapt through Harry and he bounded up to the door before anyone could stop him; inside was dark and damp, lamps were lit but it didn't seem to help, there were ancient artefacts on the walls and heavy dark wood doors but at the end of the dingy hallway was Sirius.  
Sirius's hair had been cut shorter, his clothes clean and a bit smarter and he'd put on some weight he almost looked like the happy young man in Lily and James's photos; all the anger and frustration Harry had felt from not hearing from his godfather flew out the window as he rushed to embrace him tightly.  
No real words were needed for that moment, both were happy just hugging, not having seen each other since some time in fourth year.  
Out of the corner of his eye Harry saw Mr and Mrs Weasly waiting to hug him too, so he momentarily let go of Sirius to hug the Weasley's.  
"wonderful to see you Harry dear." Mrs Weasly gushed, "wish we could have got you here sooner." she added remorsefully.  
"there's someone else here too." Harry said, remembering Draco almost guiltily.  
Stood uncomfortably between Lupin and Tonks the blond looked ready to vanish, "what is he doing here?" Sirius bristled.  
"he's in danger." Harry told him, "I'm keeping him safe."  
All the adults stared at Harry like he'd told them he was going to live on a Flobber Worm farm and rename himself Doris.  
Eventually their faces softened when they noticed how serious and calm Harry was about it, saving their own questions for later too; Sirius slowly approached the blond, who looked oddly terrifying, Harry close by.  
"you really in danger?" Sirius asked firmly.  
Draco nodded, not knowing that Sirius was in fact not a murderer and should be a free man, he swallowed nervously, "You-Know-Who is in my house, I can tell you stuff I overheard, if, if that helps." he offered, "I've overheard a lot of stuff over the years."  
There was a thick beat of silence before Sirius clapped Draco hard on the shoulder, still wearing a serious look, "you'd sell your father out like that?"  
Swallowing hard again Draco looked dead into Sirius's dark eyes, "he's wrong." he said in a small voice and Harry felt oddly proud of Draco for admitting such a thing out loud.  
Sirius gave a sudden loud laugh, "you're on your way to being a good guy." his whole face had softened and Draco looked ready to collapse so Harry placed a firm hand on his elbow.  
"Ron and Hermione are upstairs if you want to see them." Mr Weasly told him.  
There was a small clench in Harry's stomach; despite easily forgiving Sirius for not writing he understood, his godfather's life was still in danger and he wasn't free to do as he wished, but his best friends didn't seem to have such a good excuse.  
"want me to come with?" Draco asked, looking conflicted as which way to go.  
Harry nodded and the pair made their way upstairs; there was only one room with light spilling from it so they made their way towards it and heard voices, two of them, Harry paused for a moment outside the door, stealing himself to face his friends with Draco in tow, and stepped inside with a smile.  
"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed the second the walked through the door, flinging herself at him in a crushing hug, "oh it's so good to a see you."  
When the bushy haired girl finally let go Harry was pulled into a one armed hug by Ron and then they all stood close slightly awkwardly; Harry still felt a little stung that his best friends, ones he'd risk his life for, had neglected to write to him and they seemed to sense it too.  
"we missed you mate." Ron said, "we wanted to write, really we did."  
Ron went red under his freckles; he'd had a serious growth spurt sometime at the beginning of the holidays, now he looked even more lanky than before, his hair still bright red and smiling casually.  
"it's just, we were told not to." Hermione added.  
A small bubble of anger flared in Harry's stomach, "yeah, no, that's fine." he said snappily, "why would I want to hear from anyone after what happened during the Tournament."  
Ron and Hermione exchanged worried glances, the ones Harry hated with a passion, "don't be like that." Ron said softly, "we wanted to.."  
"but no one thinks its important to tell me anything." Harry snapped, walking further into room, trying to calm himself.  
"that's not true Harry." Hermione said firmly, "we wanted to tell you."  
"but you couldn't be bothered. Too busy having a great summer together, without me." Harry couldn't seem to shake his anger this time; these were meant to be his best friends, the ones he told everything too, no matter how crazy, and now they were keeping secrets from him.  
"come on mate, don't be like that." Ron said softly.  
"I think you're just winding him up." Draco suddenly stepped into the room and the tension in the room thickened.  
Ron's face scrunched into a furious frown and he reached for his wand, "how the fuck did you get in?" he snarled.  
"I brought him." Harry told them firmly.  
Draco stood a little taller, "for his best friends, you don't seem great at handling him." he seemed to be acting a little haughtily in front of Ron.  
"and what would you know about him?" Hermione snapped, looking riled up.  
"well, unlike you two, I've spent time with him this summer." Draco said smugly.  
Ron and Hermione looked at Harry in shock, who shrugged and for the first time in five years didn't want to tell his friends what had happened, "it just kind of happened." he muttered.  
"excuse us Malfoy." Ron said firmly and pushed Draco from the room, slamming the door loudly without waiting for an answer, "what do you mean it happened?" he asked Harry pointingly.  
Harry crossed his arms angrily, "why should I-"  
"please Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, "we're really sorry we didn't write to you, but please tell us what's happened. You know better than anyone not to trust Malfoy."  
"well, maybe I want to trust Draco now." Harry said definitely, savouring the looks of surprise when he said Draco's name.  
Watching Hermione take a deep calming breath Harry did the same, he didn't want to fall out with his friends, he was just annoyed they didn't think it had been important to tell him anything that was going on.  
"so, are you going to tell us what happened?" Hermione asked softly.  
Harry sighed again, "okay, here's what happened.." he proceeded to tell them about Draco asking for help, falling through the mirror and the days they spent together, glossed over most of the convocations they'd had and finally the events during and after the Dementor attack.  
"bloody hell." Ron breathed once Harry had finished.  
"are you done talking about me yet?" came Draco's unhappy voice from the other side of the door, "this hallway is giving me the creeps."  
Harry pulled the door open to let the blond back in, "they're my friends, I was just telling them what happened." he reminded Draco gently.  
"and I couldn't have my say?" Draco quirked an eyebrow.  
"pretty sure Harry covered it all." Ron snapped, looking sulky again now Draco was back in the room.  
"well then, maybe you should tell Harry what's been going on here." Draco said firmly.  
Ron turned a strange colour, even Hermione looked offended, both shot an un-trusting look at the blond.  
"this is the Order of the Pheonix." Sirius was stood in the doorway, a lop-sided smile, "first brought together during the first war we fought sometimes from the inside to bring down Voldermort." he told them, "Merlin this room is dusty."  
"were you a part of it Sirius?" Harry asked.  
Sirus gave him the brightest smile, "you bet I was. Your parents too, we all were."  
"even Wormtail?" Harry asked quietly.  
"it was certainty a good cover for the little rat." Sirius gritted his teeth before smiling again, "this was Dumbledor's idea, to bring it all together again."  
Harry flinched slightly at the mention of Dumbledore but quickly brushed it off, "what are the Order up to then?" he asked instead.  
"in time Harry, not all at once." Lupin strode into the room, "I know you're desperate to know everything but I think breakfast might be a better idea."  
"ugh, thank Merlin, real food." Draco said.  
"I don't know Malfoy, I don't think our inferior food will be good enough for you." Ron snapped.  
"stop it." Harry said firmly grabbing both Draco and Ron's attention, "if me and Draco could survive sleeping in the same bed for a week -"  
"same bed?" Ron breathed.  
"-then surely you can learn to get along." Harry finished, almost pleading.  
Ron looked conflicted, "but, but it's Malfoy." he eventually whined.  
"come on Ron, people change." Hermione said softly, eyeing Draco slightly.  
"I know I've been a prick." Draco said moving closer to Harry, "but there's bigger things at work than my bullying."  
The red head crossed his arms angrily, "but he called you a Mud-"  
"I know full well what he called me." Hermione snapped.  
Draco flushed red, "and I was foolish. I'm not asking for forgiveness, just not to kill each other for Harry's sake."  
"wiser words than your father could ever come out with." Lupin placed a proud hand on Draco's shoulder.  
With some of the tension gone, Ron was defiantly not all for getting on with Draco but was holding his tongue as not to upset Harry, everyone went through the dingy house into the lowest level where the kitchen was.  
There was a huge fireplace where a large, black cauldron was bubbling loudly over a roaring fire, on one side of the room stood a dark wood cabinet that looked like it had once been filled with the Black family silverware but now stood bare, the silverware dumped in a bag on the floor, and the rest of the Weasley clan were sat around the table.  
"we heard Malfoy was here." George said, approaching Harry to shake his hand, "heard Ron complaining, then again, you've always been a good judge of people."  
"yeah, so if you trust him, so do we." Fred added and the pair grinned at Draco, who smiled nervously back.  
Mrs Weasley flapped around them all, making them sit and filling their plates with eggs, bacon, sausages, toast and all other goodies Harry had deeply missed over the past two weeks.  
Nobody talked much as they dug into the delicious food, Harry's anger at not being told anything had disappeared since he now understood enough, even if he wanted to know more and understood his anger wouldn't be helping the upcoming cause.  
During the meal Tonks showed off some impressive transforming skills with her body; changing her hair all colours of the rainbow, turning her nose into a pear and her tongue to look like a snakes.  
"so, Draco." Lupin was the first to speak after the food had all been demolished, "what caused this change of heart?"  
Harry watched the colour drain from the blond's face, suddenly very aware that everyone's eyes were on him and stabbed nervously at his uneaten mushrooms, "I guess my emerald tinted glasses were lifted." he muttered.  
"want me to tell them?" Harry whispered, leaning in close.  
Draco shook his head, trying to muster courage he had been missing for the past fifteen years, "You-Know-Who is at Malfoy Manor, he's made it his headquarters and let's just say its not the great life my parents made it out to be." he told them while rubbing his fading bruises.  
"you're safe here." Sirius said eyeing Draco's bruises too, "it wasn't during my childhood but it certainly is for all those on good's side."  
"Malfoy Manor is his headquarters." Mad-Eye wrote down the information on the back of his used napkin, "how many Death Eaters there boy?"  
"depends. During the day about twenty but on a night nearly twice as many. The werewolves are in on it too." Draco told Mad-Eye quickly.  
Lupin suddenly looked extra tired, "not again." he moaned lowly.  
"no, not again Remus." Sirius snapped, looking at his friend hard.  
Mad-Eye asked Draco several more questions, the blond going paler with each question, before Mrs Weasley put an end to it and ushered them all out.  
"you okay?" Harry asked the blond as everyone tramped upstairs.  
Draco sighed, "yes I'm fine." he said shortly before rubbing his face, "ignore me, can I just be by myself for a while."  
"so you can contact your parents." Ron hissed quietly but Draco heard him and whirled around with a furious scowl.  
"I would love to contact my parents so they don't think I'm fucking dead." Draco snarled, pink flooding his cheeks, "believe it or not I want You-Know-Who gone as much as you."  
Ron had turned pink too, pulling himself up to his full height as he towered over everyone but his brothers, "only because he's ruining your perfect family."  
"I know my family is far from perfect." Draco said, "that doesn't mean I want to lose them to this war."  
"stop it, both of you." Harry snapped, stepping between them, "how is it helping if you two are fighting constantly."  
"mate, he's been bullying us for five years, I still can't believe you've forgiven him so quickly." Ron seemed betrayed.  
Harry placed a friendly hand on Ron's shoulder, "let's get through the summer without getting into fights, please Ron. Draco."  
"I'll bite my tongue. But only for you, cause you're my best friend." Ron said honestly.  
"good enough." Harry laughed, "you behave too?" he asked Draco, moving his hand from Ron to the blond's arm.  
Draco raised an eyebrow before his whole body relaxed, "like he said, only for you."  
Harry couldn't stop the blush or butterflies attacking him at Draco's words and he wished the blond didn't have such an effect on his now; then again Draco had always had some kind of effect on him but this time around Harry wasn't repulsed.


	6. Chapter 6

Letting Draco find a room to be alone in for a while, with firm directions from Sirius not to touch anything, Harry, Ron and Hermione settled into the library which gave off an ominous vibe.  
"dad said we'll probably have to burn most of these books." Ron mentioned casually, reaching out to touch one of the books only to have Hermione slap his hand away, "full of dark magic and everything."  
"I wouldn't think Sirius would want to keep anything." Harry said; he knew vaguely that Sirius had had an awful childhood under his vile parents, so much so he'd run away to live with James, so he knew his godfather wouldn't want anything to be reminded of the terrible time in his life.  
"here." Hermione handed Harry a stack of letters, "we wrote these during the summer, hoping at some point we'd get to send them." she explained guiltily.  
Squashing down his laughter Harry placed the letters down and embraced his friends tightly; he couldn't believe they'd done exactly the same thing as he did and he felt stupid for being angry at them.  
With any tension gone the three sat on the floor, too suspicious to sit in the dusty chairs, and talked about their summers before coming to Grimswald Place; Harry didn't shy away from mentioning Draco, even though Ron frowned every time he did, while Hermione rattled off some interesting facts she'd read in one of her new books.  
Eventually Harry went to look for Draco; he found him quickly in a room covered wall to wall with the Black Family tree going as far back and wide as possible, the blond was frowning at his own name on the tree.  
"that's a long family tree." Harry said softly, admiring the unhappy looking portraits, there were some family members that had been burnt off, including Sirius.  
"a long line a bigots and racists." Draco snapped.  
Harry looked at Draco, seeing how conflicted and sad he seemed, and moved to place his arm tightly around the blond's shoulders, pulling him close trying to be comforting, "you're not like them. Not now you know better." he said quietly.  
Draco laughed shakily, rubbing his face, "stop being positive." he groaned.  
Without warning Draco pulled out his wand and burnt out his own pale, smug little face from the tree; the small flame burnt a near perfect hole.  
"feel better?" Harry asked.  
Draco nodded and without thinking Harry lent in and kissed the blond gently on the cheek; the pair jumped back in surprise, Harry couldn't think of an explanation of why he'd just kissed the blond and Draco had turned the brightest shade of pink to date.  
"I didn't mean to do that." Harry gasped, "I mean, I did, obviously." he laughed nervously, "sorry."  
"no, no, it's fine." Draco said quickly, touching the place Harry had kissed, "just some warning next time."  
Harry suddenly didn't know what to do with this hands, nervous all over, "next time?" he whispered mostly to himself.  
"you guys okay in here?" Sirius asked coming into the room, glaring at the family tree before him before seeing that Draco had burnt himself from it.  
Slowly and tentatively Harry placed a hand on Draco's arm, the awkwardness still there but he couldn't seem to stop himself; it also helped that the blond didn't move away.  
Sirius eyed them with a small smile before turning his gaze back to the family tree, "I knew someone in your position Malfoy." he said softly, he jabbed his thumb at the image next to his own burnt one.  
'Regulas Black' the label read, the boy in the image looked like a softer Sirius, a scared look on his pale face and a deathday date included.  
"my little brother." Sirius told them sadly, "too soft to fight against our parents forceful ways and too naive to believe there was something better. Got all mixed up and paid the price." he violently jabbed the deathday date.  
Harry felt guilty that he hadn't asked his godfather about his family, Sirius had spoken poisonously of his mother and fleetingly mentioned his father but it always felt like the biological Black family were a taboo subject.  
"mother mentioned him once." Draco suddenly said quietly, "disappeared one night and never returned. She said he wasn't cut out to be a Death Eater, I think she was trying to use the tale to toughen me up for when I would receive my mark."  
Sirius scoffed, "nothing braver than grovelling at a madman's feet." suddenly he clapped his hands loudly together, breaking the thick mood, "the mission this summer is to gut this house, want to help me smash my mother's favourite vases?" he winked at Harry.  
As it happened Sirius had lined up the expensive and rare family heirloom vases in the downstairs hallway, he handed Harry and Draco the Weasley twins Beater bats and gave them a wicked grin, "who wants to go first?"  
As it happened, no one got to go first, Draco had been standing awkwardly on the stairs when he'd placed his hand on a curtain covered painting which immediately sprang to life with a blood curdling scream.  
"TRAITORS! UNCLEAN! FILTH IN MY RIGHTEOUS HOME!" Walburga Black's voice was high and shrill, it echoed through the old house like an explosion, rattling old windows and shaking doorframes, her wild eyes shooting between the three of them.  
"SHUT UP YOU OLD BAT!" Sirius shouted, grabbing one of the curtains to pull it shut again while his gaunt mother continued to scream vile words at him.  
Walburga's eyes fell on Draco and she stopped screaming, "ah, Narcissa's boy, good to see some good blood back in this house, such a proud pure blood. You must purge this house of the vile half bloods and monsters that have invaded." she shot a look at Harry, who was standing close with a furious frown, "oh, I recognise that look, your pathetic father gave me that look every year."  
A wave of anger shot through Harry, instead of shouting he gripped the bat more tightly and approached the heirloom vases; looking her dead in the eye he brought the bat down hard and smashed the brittle vase into thousands of pieces, relishing Walburga's horrified wails.  
Sirius took the next swing, taking out three vases at the same time, Walburga was starting to sound like a broken siren with all her noise, but that time the rest of the residents had appeared to watch the show, Fred and George were wolfing down sweets intently as they watched.  
"STOP THEM BOY!" Walburga screeched at a startled Draco.  
Draco shakily approached the vases, the Black mother's face turning smug, he picked up one of heirlooms, holding it gently in his hands before looking at Harry.  
Harry felt a little disappointed, he was scared the blond's loyalty was wavering, but it all left in a whoosh as Draco stared definitely at Walburga before smashing the vase violently on the floor, "fuck you and your purge." he snarled and with a wave of his hand the curtain sealed itself shut once more, blocking out her screams.  
Harry pushed down the urge of kiss Draco on the cheek again, very aware that everyone was watching, instead he awkwardly patted him on the back, "want to break another one?"  
Almost breathlessly Draco nodded, smiling weakly; for the next ten minuets all the younger generation took it in turns to smash the vases, Sirius took great pleasure in smashing his mother's best one, even Lupin crunched an unbroken piece under foot and eventually Mrs Wealsey had to tell them to stop since there was barely anything left the break.  
The moment they were alone Harry placed a kiss on Draco's cheek, the urge uncoiling, "proud of you." he said softly.  
Draco turned bright pink, "proud of me?" he breathed, "what for?"  
"it took guts to stand up to that old bat." Harry grinned and kissed the blond on the other cheek before swanning off towards the kitchen.  
"I told you to warn me when you're going to do that!" Draco hissed but was smiling foolishly.  
For the next week everyone spent their time between catching up with homework and helping clear out the rooms; Harry found it quiet satisfying to hold something that had been around for centuries, held by dark Witches and Wizards, displayed proudly to be passed on to the next generation and to simply dump it into a bag to be thrown away.  
Draco was able to point out things that were cursed before anyone could touch them; he and Ron had decided that the best way for them not to be at each other's throats constantly was to ignore and avoid each other.  
The kisses on that first day weren't the last, whenever Draco looked upset or he did something selfishly wonderful, like giving the Order the full layout of Malfoy Manor plus some extra information they could ask from the HouseElves, Harry would give him a kiss on the cheek; getting firmer every time.  
"this isn't normal, is it?" Draco finally asked after Harry had given him a kiss for warning Ron not to touch a small, cursed cup without being coaxed.  
Harry thought about; about a month ago the pair had been at each others throats, looking for different, more vile ways to bring each other down, but something had shifted between them, an affection that they both hadn't received from parental figures, only running deeper.  
"we're not exactly normal though are we." Harry commented, "do you hate it?" he figured he should have asked sooner.  
"no." Draco said simply, frowning slightly, "but others won't like it."  
Harry sighed, "I find I'm happier when I don't give a crap what others think."  
Draco suddenly looked even more conflicted so Harry kissed him again, "we won't be able to do this at Hogwarts!" he exclaimed.  
"plenty of corridors." Harry shrugged but a huge part of him didn't want to hide away.  
"sordid." Draco wrinkled his nose, "take this seriously, I'll still be in danger."  
Harry rolled his eyes, sitting on the floor he pulled the blond with him, "you'll be kept safe." he told Draco firmly.  
"not in the Slytherin dungeon I won't be." Draco grumbled.  
"well, you've been staying in my bed for the past two weeks, why change it now." Harry said blushing furiously.  
Draco was blushing too, "I'm not sleeping in the Gryffindor tower."  
"I'll sleep in the dungeons then." Harry said instantly, "hope you've got an extra blanket."  
"why are you like this?" Draco groaned, going to lie on the floor before deciding against it.  
"because now you're not trying to ruin my life or being an insufferable twat, I'm starting to really like you." Harry told him honestly.  
"what does that make us then? Still enemies? Friends? Once back at Hogwarts should I just nod at you in the hallways?" Draco said softly.  
Harry pondered that for a moment, although he'd originally been annoyed and put out by having Draco hanging close all the time, it would be have been easy for the blond to have just sat in Harry's bedroom but he hadn't and the presences was now comforting.  
"this war has shown me to appropriate those who are important." Harry mused, "and you've become pretty important."  
The only thing Draco did was nod and the pair sat in silence for a while before deciding that they should both get on with their homework; climbing off the floor Harry casually grabbed the blond's hand who didn't pull away, they were confronted in the hallway by Ginny.  
Ginny's cool eyes flittered between Harry and his hand holding Draco's tightly, her mouth pinched tightly; Harry guessed she still wasn't over her crush on him, "what's this?" she finally asked.  
Harry felt Draco trying to pull his hand from his own so he gripped a bit tighter, "we've been talking. What are you doing?" he said cooily.  
"talking about what?" Ginny asked, ignoring Harry's query.  
"nosy aren't you." Draco said icily.  
Ginny turned scarlet under her freckles, looking ready to shout, but composed herself and gave a slightly unnerving smile, "can I speak to Draco alone? I have some questions."   
Harry glanced at Draco, "you okay with that?" he whispered leaning in close.  
"I'm not afraid of a little girl." Draco bristled but his sweating hand said something different.  
Nodding Harry, reluctantly letting go of the pale hand, and watched the two vanish into a room, the door closing quietly; he tried to rid the uneasy feeling in his stomach, to distract himself he went to speak to Sirius and Lupin.


	7. Chapter 7

It was dinner time when Draco and Ginny appeared again, there was signs of tension but they both smiled when sitting down and the blond non-verbally indicated he didn't want to speak about it; Harry made mental note to get it out of him later.  
During the night Harry had become so used to having Draco's bony, wriggling body next to him that he noticed quickly when it was no longer there; sitting up in the darkness Harry could make out Ron snoring loudly next to him on the floor and Fred and George fighting for space in their own shared bed, but the door was open slightly.  
Creeping through the hallways during the night was even worse than during the day, at least during the day there was a hum of talking from somewhere, but there was a deafening silence.  
In the low lights downstairs Harry could make out a figure standing at the front door, blond hair visible even in the near darkness, "Draco?" Harry whispered.  
Draco flinched violently but didn't turn nor did he answer, his hand firmly on the door handle.  
"what are you doing?" Harry approached the blond slowly, cautiously, "you've not had a change of heart, have you?" he asked trying to hide his panic at the prospect.  
"no." Draco said so quietly Harry almost didn't catch it and felt some of the panic release from his chest.  
Harry was now close enough to feel Draco's mild body heat, his pale skin covered in goosebumps despite the heat, "they why are you stood here? Sleepwalking?"  
There was silence again until Draco noisily cleared his throat, "I'm leaving." he announced but didn't move.  
"like fuck you are." Harry snapped reaching out for Draco's wrist to pull it from the handle but the blond held strong, "what's with this? What happened?"  
"you and I both know I don't belong here, being protected, so I'm leaving." Draco said quickly.  
Harry quickly pieced together that Ginny had said something to the blond earlier, he knew he shouldn't have let them talk in privart, he also guessed that there would be no reasoning to a rocked conscious and would be having some very strong words with Ginny later about keeping her nose out.  
"okay." Harry said, feeling Draco flinch again, "but I'm coming with you." he added quickly.  
Finally Draco turned to face him, his grey eyes wide in shock, "don't be so bloody stupid, you need to stay here, where it's safe."  
Harry rolled his eyes, "maybe I don't want to be safe." he tried to hide the amusement in his voice as he tried to sound serious.  
"then you're a fool! Who else can defeat You-Know-Who, you're so important." Draco snapped.  
"and you are important to me." Harry told him firmly and lent in to kiss Draco but this time ever so softly on the lips.  
In that moment the whole world seemed to stop, there was no danger, no other cares, just those two kissing in the dark, feeling tensions and insecurities unravelling, Draco's hand on the door was now tightly entwined in Harry's, the blond pressed against the door and it would have lasted longer had they not been interrupted.  
Harry pulled away from Draco's warm, soft lips to peek over his shoulder at a small shuffling noise to see the Black family HouseElf, Kreatcher, glaring at them.  
"fuck off." Harry snapped, moving to cover Draco more, not turning to the HouseElf.  
Kreatcher had been alone in Grimswald place for years with no one to give him orders but Walburga's batty painting, continuing to fill his ugly, wrinkled head with vile concepts; Sirius owned the foul HouseElf now, much to both of their dismays, and his godfather often punished Kreatcher for speaking unkindly of any of the Order members.  
"little half-blood can't order Kreatcher around." Kreatcher snarled.  
Harry had seen Sirius throwing a cup at Kreatcher the other day when the HouseElf refused to hand Lupin a cup of tea and dubbed him a monster; the cup hadn't hit the HouseElf but he had scurried away.  
Unfortunately Harry didn't have anything to throw at the HouseElf, "I will be able to when I live here." Harry reminded Kreatcher firmly, "once Sirius is free."  
"blood traitor doesn't deserve to be free, disgrace to his poor mother." Kreatcher simpered like Waburga was some innocent.  
"and you are a disgrace to this household." Draco snapped as he stepped away from the door, "speaking so poorly of you Master and his guests. For shame HouseElf."  
Kreatcher gave a hurt gasp, bowing low to Draco, as he had done every time he'd seen him, "Master Malfoy.."  
"do not address me as such." Draco snarled, his upper-class upbringing shining through, "I am not your Master."  
"if you were to take me to the Manor." Kreatcher suggested quite bravely for a HouseElf.  
Draco scoffed, "if I wanted another useless HouseElf who can't obey simple orders then we would buy half a dozen for mere Knutz."  
Harry was starting to feel a little uncomfortable to how Draco was speaking, almost as if his father was shining through again; he squeezed Draco's pale hand and was pleased to receive one back instantly.  
"however, prove your loyalty to you new Master." Draco continued, Kreatcher's sagging ears perking up a little, "go to Malfoy Manor and receive my Hogwarts things and do not get caught, if you are or tell anyone where you've come from then you will be sent to work with a wage." he threatened and Harry nearly laughed at the HouseElf's horrified expression.  
Bowing deeply again Kreatcher disappeared with a loud crack, Harry let out a long breath, "well, that was a mood killer." he joked.  
Draco smiled too, "Sirius told him to go days again, he refused and asked me to order him, it was awkward and then Sirius kicked him into a cupboard." he shrugged.  
"Hermione says we should be sympathetic to him, since 'it's not his fault'." Harry said and began to tug Draco back through the corridor.  
"even after the things he calls her." Draco rolled his eyes, catching Harry's expression, "shut up, I know how I used to be, Granger isn't so bad. In small doses."  
"tell me about it." Harry laughed, "so you don't think we should be kind to him?"  
Draco shrugged, "HouseElves need to earn a Masters respect or be punished." he rattled off like he was reading from the 'How To Be A Proper Pampas Pureblood Wizard' handbook.  
"like Dobby." Harry said; the only reason he'd never actually lashed out at Kreatcher was because he always remembered his dear friend Dobby whenever he did and the awful treatment he went through under Lucious Malfoy.  
"not like Dobby." Draco said a little firmly, "Dobby was a good elf but his loyalties weren't to our family. He could read, did you know that?" he asked.  
Harry was taken back, "I didn't." he admitted guiltily, "who taught him?"  
"mother. The same time she taught me. He would read letters that came, every single one of them, that's probably why he was so interested in you." the blond trailed off, blushing in the dark.  
The pair had made it halfway back to the shared bedroom, "oh yeah?" Harry teased.  
"shut it." Draco snapped with no venom, "everyone writes home about how school is going and how the great Harry Potter is ruining his life."  
"must have been in every letter for Dobby to risk everything to help me." Harry mentioned casually.  
"father did start telling him to censor my letters." Draco pouted, "telling him to skip over any mention of you. My letters were quite short." he confessed.  
Harry laughed softly, pulling Draco into his arms, placing the pale arms around his own neck and running his hands down Draco's thin sides; kissing again Harry pressed their lips together a bit firmer and pulling themselves together tighter.  
"what are you doing?"   
Draco and Harry sprang apart, only just remembering to unwind their arms from each other, and started wildly as Sirius leaning on a wall close by, illuminated by the tip of a wand; dressed in a bright red Gryffindor top and wearing a very amused smirk.  
"I heard voices." Sirius said, "thought Kreatcher might have been in the heirlooms again, but this is far more interesting."  
Draco looked ready to combust in embarrassment, caught snogging in a rickety hallway by his second-cousin with The Boy Who Lived.  
"it, is what it looks like." Harry finally said, knowing he couldn't hide anything from his godfather and received a venomous glare from the blond.  
Sirius giggled mischievously, "oh I guessed as much. What a turn of events." he approached them like he too was nothing more than a teenager catching his best mate snogging a crush, "it's like if James kissed Snape." he pulled a face.  
"that's a vile image I didn't need." Draco shuddered.  
Harry felt a bit put out for some reason, "are you angry?" he asked cautiously.  
"why would I be angry? I'm all about breaking the rules and pushing boundaries." Sirius laughed, "just prepare for backlash."  
"little late for that don't you think?" Draco said, "kind of crossed that line when I came through that mirror."  
Ron violently swearing from the bedroom caught their attention; Kreatcher had indeed brought Draco's school trunk and landed it directly on top of Ron.  
"dumb fucking elf!" Ron shouted, trying to push the heavy trunk from his chest and taking uncoordinated kicks at Kreatcher.  
"what is the meaning of this Kreatcher?" Sirius snapped and was surprised when the grumpy HouseElf bowed to him.  
"Kreatcher has brought Mr Malfoy's school things, like Master ordered." Kreatcher said in a tight voice, through clenched teeth.  
Sirius raised an eyebrow, "er, okay." he said slowly, "leave then." and the HouseElf left quickly.  
Fred and George lifted the trunk off their little brother, opening it before Draco could stop them, "that's a lot of stuff." George snorted.  
"yeah, well." Draco said sharply, closing the trunk in embarrassment; inside the trunk was all of his previous year school things, plus half his bedroom, it seemed the HouseElf had grabbed practically everything and some of the things were pretty personal.  
Luckily Kreatcher had been smart enough to grab Draco's bag of Galleons so he could purchase his new school supplies.  
Harry watched a happy Draco put on his own pyjamas, silk green ones with silver snakes around the cuffs, before they climbed into bed again and he nearly lent over to kiss the blond but to realise that Ron was watching.  
"you two are acting strange." Ron said, "why were you outside the bedroom when that HouseElf dropped that trunk on me?"  
Harry blushed, "just going to the bathroom." he lied badly.  
"together?" Ron quirked a suspicious eyebrow.  
Draco dropped his head into his hand, groaning softly, "you're so fucking stupid Harry." he breathed.  
"aw leave them alone Ronny." Fred called from across the room.  
"yeah, can't you see what's going on?" George chimed in.  
Harry felt the colour drain from his face and he unconsciously reached for Draco's hand; he didn't mind being found out, least of all by the Wealsey twins, what made it worse was Ron's judging face eyeing them both.  
Fred and George sighed dramatically together, "ah!" Fred said, "from enemies, to friends."  
"and now more!" George said, winking over at a stock still Harry and Draco, "right guys?"  
Draco gave Harry a sudden shove, "I snog you once and suddenly everyone knows! Why do you have to wear your emotions on your face." he huffed and turned away.  
Harry was speechless; Sirius knew because he'd literally walked in on them but the twins seemed to know Harry better than he knew himself and could read him like an open book, maybe Harry hadn't been on the down-low as he'd originally thought.  
"was it really that obvious?" Harry asked slowly.  
George swooned dramatically back on his pillows, his brother following moments later, "only a little, young Harry." he laughed.  
"maybe you shouldn't spend so much time sneaking off to be alone." Fred laughed.  
Ron still sat still, his mouth hanging wide open, "you said you weren't friends!" he finally exclaimed, gesturing wildly with his arms.  
"I didn't plan it mate." Harry said softly, "we both agreed just to get through the summer, but things feel different when you have something in common."  
"we've got stuff in common, like Quiddich, homework hatred.." Ron began to list off but Harry cut him off prematurely.  
"like a madman wanting us dead." Harry expressed firmly, "are you that pissed off that I'm with him?"  
"him has a name." Draco hissed, looking grumpier than ever.  
Ron opened and shut his mouth a few times, the cogs turning in his brain, seeming to weigh up the pros and cons and come up with a better excuse than "but it's Malfoy!" which had earned him a heavy book to the back of the head the last time he'd used it.  
"no, I guess not. You don't really have much luck with girls." Ron said slowly, "and I guess he's a good guy now, so I'm okay with it."   
"so glad we got your approval." Draco drawled.  
Harry rolled his eyes and kissed Draco firmly on his pouting face, he was swatted away but earned a smile from the blond.  
"please don't do that in front of me." Ron whined.  
"then don't eat in front of me." Draco snapped, getting a confused look from the red head, "because watching you eat makes me uncomfortable."  
Ron turned red, "I'm not uncomfortable with two boys kissing." he exclaimed unconvincingly.  
Feeling a bit strange Harry couldn't understand his best mates discomfort; last year Ron had all been for going out with girls, upset when neither of them received a sincere Valentines day card, and sulking during the Yule Ball because Hermione turned out to be very attractive behind her books.  
"learn to get used to it." Harry told him firmly but not unfriendly, "okay?"  
Ron looked guilty, "yeah." he said before laying back down to finally sleep.  
In the darkness Harry could hear the twins giggling and making silly kissy noises, Ron immediately fell asleep, it seemed being rudely woken by a trunk being dropped on his chest and having to accept his best mate was with their ex-worst enemy, really took it out of him; next to him Harry could tell Draco wasn't asleep.  
"what's wrong?" Harry asked in barely a whisper.  
Draco tensed, obviously thinking he'd got away with pretending to be asleep, before he gripped the fabric of Harry's top, "are you only with me because we're both wanted dead?" he whispered gently.  
"why would you ask that?" Harry asked confused.  
"because that's what you said to the grumpy Weasley." Draco huffed and Harry could practically see him pouting angrily.  
Harry pulled Draco tighter to him, feeling his cold feet touching his own slightly clammy ones, any protest from the blond quickly vanished as he allowed himself to to cuddled & kissed gently.  
"I said we had that in common but we've got plenty in common and even more to learn about each other." Harry whispered sweetly.  
Draco burned and placed his hand firmly on Harry's grinning face, "shut up soppy bugger." he laughed lightly, not offended, "you mean it?" he added even quieter.  
"I don't say stuff I don't mean." Harry informed him and finally they both fell into a deep sleep, Draco only just remembering to remove his hand from Harry's laughing face.  
It seemed the world did not want Harry to sleep that night, moments before falling into the dark hole of deep sleep images began to swim into his vision.  
It was a bedroom, all in dark greens, a huge four poster canopy bed with the covers thrown wildly about, it seemed the room had been ransacked more than once and there was a huge, silver ornate mirror hanging beside one of the wide open windows.  
"where is he?" Came the hissing, angry voice of Voldermort.  
Two blond people stumbled into the room; Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy looked awful, their faces ashen and dirty and their clothes not coming to any standard of their usual presentation, they looked terrified.  
"we don't know, My Lord." Lucius breathed, bending into a low bow.  
"he's been back!" Voldermort screamed, blasting the far wall with a bright blue spell, "his belongings have gone."  
"we've not heard anything from him, My Lord." Narcisaa dared to speak, bowing low too, "not since the day he vanished."  
Harry could feel Voldermort's anger, a pure, hot hatred for the foolish world around him, "he did not vanish, the coward ran away."  
Neither Mafloy parent denied the fact that Draco had run away, they simply remained bowing.  
"I want Draco back here, so I can bestow the correct punishment." Voldermort said smoothly, concealing his anger, "until then, you will receive that punishment, for raising a deserter."  
The last thing Harry heard, and saw a little, was the bright blue spell erupting from Voldermort's wand, followed by Narcissa's screams.  
Jostling upright in bed Harry wasn't surprised to see everyone gathered around his bed, all looking worried; he could feel the cold sweat on his face and his scar was burning tightly, he must have woken the others up with his fitful sleep-talking.  
"what did you see Harry?" Lupin asked trying to steady his voice.  
Harry gulped loudly, trying to get another mother's screams from his mind, "Voldermort. He's torturing the Malfoys." he gasped out quickly.  
Beside him Harry felt Draco flinch, his face going even paler than before, "but, they're faithful to him." Draco said in a tiny voice.  
"because you left. Voldermort wants to punish you." Harry told him.  
Without a word Draco climbed off the bed, where he had been holding Harry's hand in a vice like grip, "I knew I should have left last night." he snapped, pulling on a random cloak from his trunk.  
"stop being stupid." Sirius snapped, grabbing the cloak from around the fretting blond's shoulders, "you running back there won't help them."  
"he'll kill my parents!" Draco shouted, colour appearing into his cheeks.  
Harry forced his aching body to move, "he doesn't want them dead." he expressed firmly, "and Sirius is right, you going back will only result in you dying."  
Draco looked conflicted, obviously he wanted to save his parents but nobody wants to die, "what do we do then?" he asked slowly.  
"there is simply nothing you can do at this moment in time." There stood Dumbledore, in purple robes littered with gold stars, his twinkling blue eyes were no less bright than the last time Harry had seen him but his long white hair and beard seemed a little wild around the edges.  
"Professor." Harry breathed, confused why Dumbledore had finally decided to turn up but his confusion quickly dissolved to anger; why had Dumblerdore not contacted him, why had someone who claimed to care about his welfare just left him all on his own for the summer.  
"nothing we can do?" Draco snapped, his own anger returning, "so I am to let my parents die?"  
Dumbledore entered the bedroom, "Voldermort does not want your parents dead." he said calmly.  
"but he's torturing them." Harry said, "I saw it."  
For a moment Dumbledore looked concerned before he smiled calmly, "we must not act rashly, it would do neither of you any good to get yourself killed Mr Malfoy." he said softly, he then turned his bright eyes on Harry, "you said you saw it Harry?"  
Harry had yet to stop feeling angry at his professor, the person he thought would always be there for him, "yeah, through Voldermort's eyes." he told Dumbledore as casually as he could.  
"Harry, that's not normal." Lupin said seriously.  
"when has anything to do with me been normal." Harry grumbled, "anyway, this isn't about me, what are we going to do about the Malfoys?" he asked firmly.  
Harry could feel Draco's grateful eyes on him but he kept his eyes trained on Dumbledore, waiting for a a sense of justice, maybe a connection to some former students, anything that would sway the rescue of Draco's parents.  
But Dumbledore said nothing; it wasn't in his agenda to save the Malfoys, not yet at least, and Harry couldn't help but feel disheartened because as much as he disliked the Malfoy parents, they were Draco's parents and they were in danger.  
"so that's it then? Just leave them to it?" Harry asked shortly.  
Draco looked ready to cry but he steeled his face quickly, "nobodies going to help them." he said in a helpless voice.  
Despite the situation Dumbledore smiled softly, "my dear boy, help is there, in due time it will run it's course."  
Vague but comforting was Dumbledore's way and it stopped Harry feeling quite so angry.  
"we will discuss your link with Voldermort another time." Dumbledore looked serious before pulling out an official Ministry letter, "in the meantime, this is for you Harry."  
Taking the letter with shaking fingers Harry read that he would be appearing in court due to using illegal magic in the presences of a Muggle, where it would be decided then if he would have his wand snapped.


	8. Chapter 8

"wish I'd never woken up." Harry sighed and handed the letter to Draco, with Ron reading over the blond's shoulder.  
At some point Hermione and Ginny had appeared, each taking it in turns to read the Ministry letter, their faces twisting into confusion.  
"I thought you said you were defending yourself from Dementors?" Hermione asked.  
"he was." Draco said shortly, "I'll testify for you." he told Harry seriously.  
Harry felt a bit numb, when the first letter had come to Privet Drive from the Ministry he had been overcome with so much anger he hadn't been thinking straight but now being handed such an important letter from Dumbledore made it unnecessarily real.  
With several things running about his brain at once Harry was trying to put them in order of importance, it didn't help that suddenly everyone was talking all around him, arguing with each other, jostling about and everything suddenly seemed too loud.  
Screwing his eyes shut tight Harry tried to block the noise out, it didn't help somewhere in his head he could still hear Narcissa screaming; images began to flashing before his eyes, some clear, some blurry, colour and black and white swirling together until they all zoomed together into a single image.  
Voldermort's bright red eyes stared straight at him, serious and deadly, a sickening smile crossing his pale face, "I won't leave you Harry. You're mine forever." his voice was echoing and distant but so clear it made Harry immediately sweat.  
Harry forced his eyes open, heart thumping hard against his chest, gulping in air, and found himself staring at the ceiling.  
The faces of his worried friends slowly came into focus, the vile image of Voldermort becoming nothing more than a fuzzy thought; Ron and Hermione had each of his hands and Draco was placing something cold on his forehead.  
"what happened Harry? What did you see?" Dumbledore asked softly.  
"Voldermort." Harry said in a dry voice.  
Everyone exchanged concerned glances, "did he say anything?" Hermione asked carefully.  
Voldermort's words came swimming into Harry's ears again and he forced it away, "no." he lied, "nothing."  
Carefully Ron and Hermione helped Harry off the floor, it seemed no one believed him before but they didn't say anything.  
"are you joining us for breakfast Albus?" Mrs Weasley asked to break the tension.  
"afraid not my dear Molly, must get back to Hogwarts, plenty of letters to answer." Dumbledore said with genuine sincerity.  
Dumbledore left shortly after, giving Harry a slightly awkward pat on the shoulder, and everyone was forced to sit down for breakfast; Harry sat in silence, hating being connected to Voldermort, just the very thought of thinking and feeling the same things as that man made Harry want to be sick.  
Halfway through a dry piece of toast Harry got a dangerous idea; the Malfoy parents were in danger and would remain in danger as long as they remained in the Manor, under Voldermort's rule, and he could feel how much it was effecting the blond next to him.  
Draco hadn't shown any worry for his parents to begin with, obviously thinking they'd be safe because they were so loyal, but now the blond was fidgeting with anything, trying to keep a straight face.  
"I'm going to the bathroom." Harry announced, standing from the table and leaving before anyone said anything else.  
Harry's plan could backfire spectacularly, there was a thousand things that could go wrong but, it was as Draco said to him over and over, he was a savoir and people were in need of saving; whether they'd be thankful or not.  
As quietly as he could Harry searched the house for Kreature, finding him hoarding Black family junk in his little cupboard.  
"Kreature." Harry said firmly, catching the angry HouseElf's attention.  
Bowing reluctently, and barely, "what can Kreature do for you?" the HouseElf asked through clenched teeth.  
"HouseElves have strong magic, Hermione said so, I need you to take me somewhere." Harry said quickly.  
"HouseElves are not to be using that kind of magic without families permission." Kreature told him through clenched teeth.  
Feeling a little angry Harry gripped the HouseElf by the top of his tunic, "listen, the Malfoy's are in danger, don't you want to curry favour with them?" he knew it was low but Harry also knew that Kreature would agree to anything with that kind of incentive.  
"Kreature will help the noble Malfoys." Kreature simpered and Harry fought to roll his eyes.  
Harry gripped his wand tightly in his hand, downstairs he could hear everyone else leaving the kitchen too, "you are to wait with me till I find the Malfoys." he hissed at Kreature, "abandon me & Draco will give you clothes."  
The grouchy HouseElf nodded quickly, grabbed hold of Harry's wrist and with a snap of his twig like fingers he felt his feet leave the ground; Harry's world became a haze, he could almost feel the wind blowing in his face, it was almost like he'd missed the final step down the stairs and he was falling.  
Within moments Harry's feet touched solid ground again and a familiar bedroom stood before him; Draco's bedroom looked like it had been ransacked again, the mattress on the bed completely shredded and any personal belongings left behind had been destroyed.  
"stay here." he snapped at Kreature before moving slowly towards the door.  
The Manor was all decorated in the same green and pale cream, very gloomy portraits lined the walls, the carpet looked old and new at the same time and what was left of the dark wood furniture was particularly grand.  
The whole place was quiet but Harry could tell there were people in the Manor somewhere; treading carefully he began to open any doors that would allow him to do so, some rooms were too dark, filled to the brim with illegal artefacts, others unusually bare.  
Harry found at least four bedrooms before finding people sleeping loudly in one of them; three ungraceful looking Death Eaters, their masks clutched tightly in their sleeping hands, sprawled across the once magnificent bed; Harry didn't recognise any of them so he quietly closed the door.  
"who wants their house this big." Harry cursed as he'd checked every single room on one floor and was now searching the second floor.  
Suddenly Harry's scar gave a short, sharp prickle, like being stung, and a door at the end of the hallway opened; in a panic Harry dived into the closest room and hid between some beautifully carved boxes and an oddly battered wardrobe.  
The stinging in Harry's scar increased as Voldermort passed by the room, Harry held his breath, preying to Merlin he wouldn't notice and as luck would have it Voldermort disappeared down to the ground floor of the Manor.  
The room Harry was hiding in was yet another artefact room, much more dusty than some of the others he had seen, the box he was behind smelt so strongly of iron he feared he might sneeze.  
Harry's scar was still stinging but he knew he couldn't stop now.  
Harry crept out of the room, not even bothering to brush the dust from his hair, and moved a little quicker towards the room at the end; inside was a light, airy room filled with books, there were maps and parchments thrown all over the place and sat in the two plush armchairs, looking ridged and ill were Lucius and Narcissa.  
They both looked up startled as Harry opened the door, their blue eyes even paler, "Mr Potter." Narcissa gasped.  
"shhh." Harry hissed, rushing forwards to grab the Malfoy's by the wrists, "I'll explain in a bit, let's get out of here."  
In a somewhat unnerving moment the Malfoy's followed without question, with shaking hands Harry gripped them tightly, the adults thin in his hands; Harry's scar was still hurting and he didn't want to waste any more time, the longer he was away from Grimswald place the more trouble he'd find himself in.  
"quick." Harry whispered uselessly as they quickly padded through the hallway back towards Draco's room.  
"what's with this daring rescue then?" Lucius couldn't help but ask.  
"I saw you, getting tortured." Harry whispered back and felt both of them tense.  
"how very noble of you to rescue us." Lucius said sarcastically and Harry let go of his wrist as they entered Draco's room finally.  
Panic slammed in Harry's stomach; Kreature was gone, not even hiding somewhere, the angry HouseElf had abandoned them, even under the threat of clothes.  
"what exactly is your plan Potter? Hide in our Draco's room?" Lucius sneered.  
"no, Kreature was meant to be waiting for us. Bloody HouseElf, I'm going to kill him." Harry snarled, desprately trying to think of a way out.  
"you're not making any sense." Narcissa said, "you said we were being tortured."  
Lucius scoffed, "in my own home, not likely."  
"but, but I saw you." Harry breathed, vividly remembering Narcissa's screams.  
As the Malfoy's exchanged glances the realisation hit Harry; Voldermort had planted those images, he was luring Harry to his doom and he'd foolishly fell for it.  
"Voldermort wanted me to come here." Harry breathed, panic tightening his throat painfully.  
Suddenly there were sounds from outside the bedroom, voices coming closer; in a reverse movement Narcissa was suddenly gripping Harry tightly by the wrist, "in here dear." she said softly and bundled him into a large trunk that had been over-turned.  
The lid was wedged in a way against the carpet that some light and air could get him but nobody could see him; the Malfoy's blocked the view of the trunk with their bodies, their robes creating a thick barricade.  
"what are you two doing in here?" snarled a Death Eater, his bare feet dirty on the floor.  
"so I cannot go around my own home now." Lucius had a great air of grandness about him that Harry would have rolled his eyes if his mind hadn't been running a mile a minuet.  
If Voldermort had planted that vision of the Malfoy's being tortured then what else had Voldermort planted, what else had Voldermort planned to bring Harry to him; Harry's cluttered mind kept bringing up Draco and how it had been very convenient that he'd been in danger and knew Harry a little too well.  
Harry berated himself for thinking ill of Draco, someone he was becoming close to, but the constant thought that Voldermort had sent Draco to him to drive Harry into his lair and securing the Dark Lord's success in the war was becoming more prominent in the front of his brain.  
"missing your little boy?" The Death Eater mock simpered, "I'm sure he'll be back real soon."  
Harry saw more thick boots and bare feet enter the bedroom, their thick griminess a stark contrast against the pale, rich carpet and shrank back even further into the trunk, feeling the velvet lining brushing against his back.  
"don't speak about Draco." Narcissa said sharply.  
The Death Eaters laughed, "he's such a mummy's boy, always was whining for you, you'd think a lad his age would enjoy the things we were willing to give him." mocked one.  
Harry bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from shouting and blasting the vile men into the next life; despite the unwanted thought that Draco could have lured him to begin with, something had shifted and he had to trust Draco had too fallen for him.  
"silence." Lucius snarled.  
But the Death Eaters continued to mock and laugh, their words vile and, with the blood pumping loudly in his ears, Harry couldn't take much more it all; even if Draco had been sent by Voldermort, Harry had never felt as connected to anyone in the way he cared for Draco.  
Aiming between the Malfoy's robes Harry sent a simple, yet powerful, Expelleamus at the front Death Eater, knocking him backwards into two others and both out.  
In the confusion Harry was able to knock out the most of the others before there was only one left, who ran off to find Voldermort.  
"what a stupid thing to do." Lucius snarled at Harry as he climbed from the trunk, not regretting his actions.  
Harry paid him no mind, thinking about Draco had triggered a thought in his head; the blond had come through a mirror and one of the only items unbroken in the room was the huge, fancy mirror hanging on the wall.  
"is this magic?" Harry asked as he touched the smooth surface of the mirror, his own reflection not being shown back.  
"of sorts." Narcissa confirmed, staring curiously at the non-reflecting mirror.  
Harry's scar was beginning to prickle badly again so he knew they had little time, so he placed his wand upon the mirror and the tiny bathroom of the Dursley's appeared.  
"oh, you're actually kidding me." Harry breathed, thinking he'd laugh until his scar gave a sharp pain, he turned to the Malfoy's, "do you know how to open the other side from here?"  
The Malfoy's were peering at the image in the mirror, they themselves not seeming to recognise the magic involved, even so they pulled out their wands.  
"it's quite complicated." Lucius said tapping the mirror a few times.  
After a few more taps and a few words from Narcissa as soft blue light spread across the mirror and Harry wasted no time in pushing the Malfoy's through it, making sure to keep a tight hold of them as he jumped through too.  
Stepping from one mirror to another was seamless, the only problem was Draco's mirror was so big and the mirror in the Dursley's was so small that the three of them fell to the floor in an uncoordinated manner.  
"so that's how he did it." Harry breathed, quickly picking himself off the floor and shuddering at being stuck in the Dursley's again.  
"who did what?" Lucius asked, his whole face twisted in disgust at the sight of the Muggle bathroom before him.  
Harry opened the bathroom door to listen for the Dursley's and unfortuntely heard them downstairs, "Draco, he came to me for help." he whispered to the Malfoys.  
Suddenly finding himself staring straight into Narcissa's ashen face, "Draco came here? Where?" she asked frantically.  
"he's not here now." Harry told her pulling his arm from her grip, "but we've got to get to where he is, you two can Apperate right?"  
Creepy through the Dursley's was more unnerving than being in Malfoy Manor but the moment Harry stepped onto the stairs he realised how little danger he was in the house; Dumbledore's letter had made it very clear that Harry must return to the Dursley's every summer holiday and Pertunia must accept that.  
With a lot less sneakiness Harry led the Malfoy's to the back garden, hearing the shocked gasps from Pertunia and Vernon as he swung the back door open; the garden seemed a little over grown since Harry hadn't been there to tend to it so often but the sun felt wonderful on his face.  
As safe as he was in Grimswald Place Harry missed being outside, just seeing it from the windows wasn't the same.  
"so, where to Mr Potter?" Lucius asked, still looking offended.  
"Grimswald Place." Harry told them, "Draco said you know the place." he added to Narcissa.  
Narcissa nodded, "we'd visit aunt Walburga every summer holiday." she confirmed.  
Feeling a little more self consious Harry took the sleeves of both Lucious and Narcissa, the mother placed a hand tightly around his upper arm, her other hand on her husband and seconds later Harry felt himself being lifted off the ground with a sharp crack.  
All the air was pushed out of Harry's lungs as they travelled, he closed his eyes to stop himself feeling sick, when he'd travelled with Kreature it had been one creatures magic but this time it was two full grown wizards trying to combine their magic to travel.  
Finally his feet touched solid ground and Harry had never been happier; the street was deserted and number 12 was missing.  
"what now Mr Potter? Any more bright ideas." Lucius drawled.  
"shut up Lucius." Narcissa suddenly snapped, "how odd that it isn't appearing." she commented.  
Harry bit his lip nervously, he didn't know what he had to do to make number 12 appear like Mad-Eye had and they couldn't very well stand in the street all day; not with the Malfoy's dressed the way they were.  
"shit." Harry suddenly swore, not being able to come up with any ideas and squatted on his heels with his face in his hands.  
"why couldn't we just Floo inside?" Lucius hissed to his wife over Harry's head.  
"Muggles don't have Floo systems." Harry said not taking his head from his hands.  
After a moment Narcissa placed a hand on Harry's head, he tensed instinctively, but she slowly petted him in a seemingly comforting way.  
Harry had no idea how to get into Grimswald Place, he had no protection out in the open and he had no way of getting in contact with anyone; his stupid little plan to make Draco happy had well and truly backfired and, once again, he was paying the price for irrational actions.


	9. Chapter 9

"oh, aunt Narcissa?" came Tonk's voice suddenly.  
Tonks was stood staring at them, her arms full of bags from Diagon Ally, today her hair was blond on one side and the brightest bubblegum pink on the other and spiky, her coat seemed to have obtained several more patches; at the sight of Harry she immediately dropped the bags, scattering supplies all over the path.  
"Harry!" Tonks exclaimed, rushing forwards to pull Harry to his feet, "what in Dumbledore's name are you doing out here." she spared a glance at the Malfoys, "with them?"  
Harry was very relieved to see Tonks in all her clumsy glory, her worried eyes searching him for injuries he engulfed her in a crushing hug, "can I explain inside, so Sirius can kill me away from prying eyes." Harry whispered in her pieced ear.  
Looking confused Tonks nodded, waved her wand to collect all the fallen supplies, handed one bag to each of them, Lucius making an offended noise, and pulled a piece of paper from her pocket; Tonks didn't even read from it before 12 Grimswald Place began to appear.  
Instead of the usual quietness, mixed with Walburga's insane mutterings, there was a buzz of sharp voices and hurried feet.  
"-surely he couldn't have got far." came Lupin's voice from the second floor.  
"he only went to the bathroom, you sure something didn't jump out and eat him?" Ron's voice wafted from the kitchen shortly followed by the sound of a slap.  
"don't say such things!" Hermione shouted, sounding genially concerned.  
Thundering footfalls were coming down the stairs, "we need to go out and look!" Sirius was says firmly.  
Mrs Weasley was following him, "you can't leave this place." she reminded him.  
"you've all done nothing but argue!" came Draco's furious voice from the kitchen, "it's Harry bloody Potter, he's probably gone off to face You-Know-Who alone!"  
Still stood in the doorway Harry looked at Tonks as the angry voices continued to echo around him, he guessed he'd been gone longer than expected, if Sirius didn't kill him Draco certainly sounded like he would.  
"hold." Tonks said with a sigh handing Harry her bags and cupping his hands around her mouth, "HEY!"  
The shouting stopped and was replaced with the sound of running and soon the narrow hallway was filled with the Order members and Hogwarts students.  
"I found Harry on the pavement." Tonks explained seconds before Harry found himself engulfed in several people hugging him.  
"you absolute moron! Where did you go?" Draco asked seconds before kissing Harry on the lips.  
"Draco!" Harry had almost forgotten that the Malfoy's were behind him, after being mugged and worried about by so many people, Lucius Malfoy's angry voice cut through the mood like the killing curse.  
Draco lost several shades in his face and looked about ready to throw up, "father?" he breathed, "mother? What are you doing here?"  
"Mr Potter rescued us." Narcissa said softly.  
A stony silence followed until Lupin cleared his throat, "I think we should speak in privert." he said gesturing to Harry, Sirius and the Malfoy's.  
Ron and Hermione argued loudly about being shut out of the meeting, Ginny and the twins too, even Tonks was unhappy but Mr and Mrs Weasley forced them all upstairs while they had a talk in the kitchen.  
Still looking a little pale Draco had hesitantly gripped Harry's hand, looking shaken at seeing his parents despite arguing so much about saving them; sitting in the kitchen it felt like Harry was already on trial.  
"so you thought it was a great idea to go into Voldermort's lair." Sirius asked slowly, looking torn between proud and angry.  
Harry sighed deeply, "I just knew nobody was going to rescue them, I wanted to do my part." he explained.  
"your part in all this is the biggest part of all." Lupin stressed.  
"too bad it was all for nothing." Lucius drawled, he'd got up from the table to examine the dumped silverware.  
Draco frowned slightly, "what do you mean? You were being tortured, Harry saw it." he said.  
"it was all made up by Voldermort, he put the images in my head." Harry admitted quietly, feeling stupid, "I fell for it."  
"yes, that was a bit stupid wasn't it?" Lucious sneered and Lupin had to quickly grab Sirius to stop him leaping over the table to attack the Malfoy.  
"father!" Draco snapped, "how can you say something like that?" the blond was gripping Harry's hand so hard it was beginning to hurt.  
Lucious looked like he wanted to strike something, or someone, but the glowering, furious look on Sirius face made him shrink back a little, his pale face twisting into a pinched sour look.  
"you should be thanking Harry." Draco told his father sternly, paler than ever, "he didn't have to some save you." he reminded his parents.  
"but, we didn't need saving dear." Narcissa said softly.  
Feeling his face burn with embarrassment Harry settled on glaring at the ungrateful parents, wishing very firmly now that he'd never risked his life since now nobody was happy with the out come and he'd risked his life.  
"then maybe you should go straight back to your choice slavery." Sirius snarled.  
Suddenly Lucious was on his feet, hands splayed firmly on the table, "how dare you! A Malfoy is never a slave, we are supporters of a great man." he rambled on, a speech he obviously given many times.  
Draco had stood too, removing his hand from Harry's sweaty one to flail them about, "oh just send them back!" he exclaimed to a shocked looking Sirius and Lupin, "wipe their dam memories and send them back!"  
"Draco." Harry whispered in the blond's ear, ignoring everyone else in the room, "I thought you wanted them safe."  
Draco had lent into Harry slightly, gripping his shirt tightly,"seeing them now reminds me just how much they'll grovel and simper to save their own skins." he hissed lowly.  
Thinking back to how the Malfoy's had actually hidden him, saving him from the Death Eaters back at the mansion, but it had all been Narcissa; given the chance Harry was sure Lucious would have handed him over to Voldermort if he hadn't been so taken by surprise.  
"maybe they should go back." Harry said to Lupin, "we could get Mad-Eye to cast the spell." he suggested.  
A weird little twisted smile ghosted across Lupin's face before the composed himself, "yes, maybe that is for the best, we all know you're safe now, the original problem has been solved. I'll contact both Mad-Eye and Dumbledore."  
"you don't need to message Dumbledore!" Harry exclaimed a sudden dread feeling clenching his stomach; panicking what the Headmaster would say to his dumb little stunt.  
Sirius stood to whisper something in Lupin's ear, the Malfoy's looking increasingly offended that they were being ignored, finally Lupin sighed deeply, "okay, I'm sure he'll find out by himself anyway."  
Sooner than expected Mad-Eye turned up to perform a simple memory arranging spell; not designed to wipe memories but one to twist them in such a way that they resembled a different memory all together.  
"I'm glad you're alive." Narcissa said to Draco before Mad-Eye performed the spell; her light blue eyes were filled with unshed tears.  
"such a same you've decided to live like this." Lucious added, not looking at his son.  
Draco's cheeks had spots of bright pink in them but he stood tall, his face sharp and impressive, "you're not really living though are you father, not with that cold, dead heart of yours." he snipped.  
Mad-Eye laughed loudly before pulling the furious looking Malfoy's into one of the quieter rooms.  
The moment the Mafloy parents were out of sight Harry kissed the blond quickly on the cheek twice before pecking Draco gently on the lips, "you okay?" he asked softly.  
Draco seemed a little glazed over, either distracted by the kiss or by his parent's leaving as quickly as they'd arrived, but soon his icy blue eyes zoned in on Harry and he punched his hard on the arm, "no I'm not bloody okay, you put yourself in danger for those ignorant idiots, you absolute Flobberworm!"  
Harry raised his arms to try and protect himself from the half-arsed hits coming from the blond as he continued to hurl increasing ridicules insults at him, "but you seemed upset!" Harry tried to justify his actions.  
"of course I was upset, they're my parents." Draco rolled his eyes, "but they can't be saved; from Voldermort, from themselves, you're just a dammed hero fool."  
"I'll take that as a compliment." Harry teased, trying to ease the air.  
A flicker of a smile graced Draco's face until Mad-Eye opened the door, the Malfoy's nowhere in sight, "that HouseElf has taken them back to Malfoy Manor; I've tweaked their memories just enough so it seems like they spoke to you via the mirror but nothing else. Took all my willpower not to have an extra dig for some information but I don't think Voldermort would have told them anything." he told them gruffly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As of 9/6/18 this is as far as I have got but if it is well liked then I'll push myself to finish it.  
> I'm really sorry for any incorrectly spelt names or bad grammar, hope you enjoyed what was given :)


	10. Chapter 10

Before Harry knew it the day of his trial was upon him; Sirius had dug out one of his old suits from childhood, one that Walburga had tried to force him into and failed, it smelt musty and felt odd to wear.  
Harry's stomach churned as he sat stiffly at the breakfast table in the dark green suit, staring aimlessly at his porridge as everyone argued around him who would occupy to the Ministry.  
"Arthur will be there with you dear." Mrs Weasley told him.  
"and me of course." Draco chimed in firmly.  
Ron physically paused eating his breakfast to frown at the blond, "why does he get to go?"  
"because I was there you nitwit." Draco hissed without venom, "first hand testimony."  
For the first time that morning Harry's body twitched into movement that wasn't automatic, he looked up at Draco, who had a firm yet comforting look on his pale face, "no, you're staying here." Harry's voice was slightly hoarse.  
Draco clenched his fists tightly, the comforting look melting away quickly, "don't tell me what to do, I'm going and that's that."  
Harry didn't like the idea of Draco, a child of a known Death Eater, going into the Ministry where there would be plenty of people with a grudge against Lucious and probably wouldn't think twice in making up so lie to have Draco arrested.  
"this is my trial." Harry said stubbornly, "they won't care who saw what or what actually happened, they care what spell came out of my wand."  
There was an exchange of looks around the room, Sirius knew all too well how corrupt the Ministry legal system was, and Harry could start feeling the panic rising in his chest.  
"so you're banning me from supporting you." Draco finally spoke.  
Harry sighed and sat down again, "I appreciate the concern guys, I really do, but we don't know what loony is going to be running the trial. I won't be dragging anyone else with me." in a strange kind of protest he spooned an unnecessary amount of cold porridge into his mouth.  
Draco was still in a mood when Harry was about to leave for his trial, the blond stood pouting as Harry was wished the best of luck by everyone and hugged tightly by Mrs Weasley.  
"remember to stay calm." Remus said softly, "you'll be fine."  
"want me to come with you, you know, as Snuffles?" Sirius whispered in Harry's ear.  
Harry desperately wanted his godfather there with him, he really quite badly wanted Draco to be there too, but their lived were important to him and he wouldn't risk it.  
"I'll be back soon, wand still intact." Harry said with more confidence than he felt.  
Walking up to the still pouting blond Harry kissed him on the cheek before following Mr Weasley to the living room where there was a working Floo system.  
"ready Harry?" Mr Weasley asked cheerily, "we're going to the Barney's Bric'a'Brac shop in London." he told him.  
Nodding Harry took some Floo powder before stepping into the fireplace and starting very firmly where he was going; Floo travel was still his very least way to travel.  
Barney's Bric'a'Brac stop was stuffed full of items, most covered in the thickest layer of dust Harry had ever seen, it seemed to all be Muggle stuff and once Mr Weasley came through the Floo system Harry saw his eyes light up.  
"oh look, what a strange contraption." Mr Weasley had picked up a television remote that was missing the batteries, "what's it for?"  
Harry was about to answer, anything to take his mind off the trial, when the fireplace behind them lit up bright green and two figures stepped out.  
"really Harry, you'd forget your head." Draco was striding towards him with a garish looking tie in his hands, a strange air of casual nature about him.  
"I'm already wearing a tie." Harry said stupidly.  
In mock surprise the blond laughed lightly, flinging the hideous tie onto a shelf, "so you are, silly me. Anyway, since I'm already here we might as well all escort you." he gestured to the other person who's come through with him.  
Snuffles looked a little dazed after coming through the Floo, obviously travelling that way had different effects on his dog form.  
"you were told not to come." Mr Weasley told them both sternly.  
Draco shrugged, "you really think we'd let Harry go through his alone after everything he's done, not a chance."  
In the mix of panic and nerves wrestling in Harry's chest a small bloom of affection burst through and he kissed the blond firmly on the cheek, hugging him tightly, "this is madness, it could end badly."  
Kissing Harry back on the cheek, Draco looked him deep in the eyes, "it won't end badly if you let others to help you. We are all big enough, old enough and ugly enough to make our own decisions and we have decided to help you."  
Sirius enforced the point by butting into their hug for one of his own.  
It seemed the argument had been won and the four of them set off into the street towards a telephone booth; after much squeezing and hot breath on faces, Snuffles had to lie flat on the floor to fit, Mr Weasley managed to pick up the receiver and tap in the numbers 62442.  
"Thank you." said a shrill woman's voice on the other end of the receiver before the floor dropped dramatically beneath them and seconds later the glistening Ministry of Magic stood before them.  
"quick now, we've got to find Courtroom Ten." Mr Weasley told them as they rushed through the crowded workplace.  
Even though he was there for a grim reason and they were in a hurry, Harry couldn't help but marvel at the huge, gold water fountain of a noble-looking wizard, a beautiful witch, a centaur, a goblin and a house-elf; jets of water fly from the end of the witch and wizard's wands, the point of the centaur's arrow, the tip of the goblin's hat and both of the house-elf's ears.  
It was quite a sight and Harry wished he had more time to enjoy it, "you can admire it later, when your case it thrown out for being ridicules." Draco told him and pulled him away.  
Harry was worried they'd get some strange looks from having such a huge black dog running around with them but after stepping into a lift and seeing the flying notes that filled most of the ceiling, Snuffles wasn't the strangest thing.  
"my father would bring me here to show me what he did for a living." Draco whispered, one hand tightly clasped in Harry's and the other on Snuffles head.  
"and what does he do for a living?" Harry asked softly.  
"not much, most intimate people out of their artefacts or black listing innocents." the blond muttered.  
"good thing he's not sitting in my trial." Harry tried to smile but it only half met his face, "I've already got stupid arguing against me, I don't need evil too."  
But, when they finally found Courtroom Ten, evil did seem to be arguing against him; Cornerals Fudge was dressed in dark robes, looking very serious, sitting next to him was red-headed Percy Weasley who had had a huge argument with his parents and had stormed out at the beginning of the summer and he didn't even look up at his father when they walked in.  
"oh no." Draco breathed at the sight of the final person; dressed head to toe in pink was a woman with a toad like face, a sickeningly fake smile on her face.  
"I see you have brought guests Mr Potter." Fudge said, his voice booming around the huge courtroom of empty seats.  
"Since Harry is underage he must be escorted." Draco said with knowledge and authority in his voice, he gestured to Mr Weasley, "I am here because I was there when he indecent happened and we simply can't leave the dog home alone."  
Snuffles barked so loudly everyone jumped even though they had all seen him and continued to growl as the toad faced woman lent forwards, still smiling unsettlingly.  
"and, were you, Mr Malfoy, summoned for this trial?" the toad faced woman had a high pitched voice, like she was pretending to be younger than she obviously was.  
"I was not." Draco answered.  
"then you must leave. Bye bye Mr Malfoy." the pink toad waved Draco away.  
Pink spots appeared on the blond's pale face and Harry opened his mouth to argue when the Minister of Magic held up his hand, "I'll allow it, he is down here as a witness, now sit down."  
Harry didn't want to let go of Draco's hand but he eventually did and was grateful that Snuggles sat definitely by his side on the huge, uncomfortable chair; being loomed over by three authority figures made Harry feel like he was little at Muggle school when the teachers would tell his aunt and uncle how badly he was doing in certain classes.  
"Harry James Potter, you have been called here for use of magic in the presence of a Muggle and since this is your second warning, the first being issued in 1992 for a levitating cake --"  
"that wasn't me, that was Doddy, the HouseElf." Harry blurted out.  
Fudge ignored him and continued to talk over him, " -- the course of action is to strip you of your wand, thus expelling you from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy."  
Harry felt his whole body run cold, any contestant thought he might had had vanished, there was a ringing in his ears and was only vaguely aware that Fudge was still talking.  
"As it stands there was two witnesses to the incident so we will hear from them before making a final judgement. Mr Malfoy please step up to the stand."


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry for everyone who has been reading this already thinking it's complete, it is mentioned in the tags that i'm struggling forwards to writing the ending, hopefully it'll all be complete soon.  
> There will be one more chapter after this one, it should be up sooner than this one, bare with me.  
> I'm also really sorry for all the mis-spelt words, my dyslexia sucks, I'll probably go back and edit all missing/mis-spelt words once it is finished, like I said; please bare with me.  
> Thank you, enjoy :)

Draco looked small as he took the stand and Harry so desperately wanted to stand there with him but he forced himself to remain seated; reminding himself that the blond was much stronger than anyone ever thought.  
"you are Draco Adora Viribus Malfoy?" the toad faced woman asked.  
"I am." Draco said, shooting a glance at Harry to make sure he wasn't laughing at his full name.  
"what is you --" the toad faced woman began but Draco cut her off.  
"and who are you? If I am going to be questioned by someone I wish to be knowledgeable of who is asking the questions." Draco stated firmly.  
Harry frowned, when they'd entered the courtroom Draco seemed to have recognised the woman, but judging by the furious looks on the Ministry official's faces it seemed the pure-blood blond just wanted to humiliate her as much as possible.  
"I am Ms Dorloas Umbridge." the toad faced woman, "as you well know." she added bitterly, spotting Draco's smirk, "as I was saying; what is your relationship to Harry James Potter?"  
"we are schoolmates, previous enemies and now boyfriends, although we haven't spoken about that yet." Draco told her and Harry felt his face heat up.  
As serious as the situation was watching and listening to the blond talk was a bit of a turn-on.  
"why were you with Mr Potter on the night of the incident?" Umbridge asked.  
Draco took a breath, shooting Harry a small smile, "I had sough refuge with Harry at Privet Drive because You-Know-Who is in my home."  
"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has not returned." The Minister snapped, obviously sick of answering the question.  
"yes he has." Draco and Harry said at the same time.  
Fudge banged his gavel and Umbridge stood up, not making much difference to her height, "don't lie!"   
"we are under oath, we can't lie!" Draco reminded them, "anyway, I was with Harry, we were walking back to the house when the Dementors appeared." he didn't allow them to argue anymore.  
"then what happened?"  
"the fat cousin fell over, there must have been about eight of them, so Harry produced a Patronus to fight them off." Draco explained simply.  
Fudge and Umbridge looked at Harry with unbelieving looks, "you are too young to produce a Patronus." the Minister said.  
"but I can, Professor Lupin taught me in third year." Harry told them.  
"the werewolf?" Umbridge sneered and Snuffles growled lowly.  
"Our Defence Against the Dark Arts professor." Draco cut in, "since you morons sent Dementors to our school I'm amazed it wasn't mandatory spell to learn."   
Fudge banged the gavel again even though no-one was talking, "as it stands it was a pointless spell to cast as unless fully formed a Patronus has no effect."  
"but I can produce a fully formed Patronus." Harry told them, "it's a stag."  
Harry found himself being scoffed at and was tempted to pull out his wand, cast a Patronus to prove them wrong but Draco spoke first.  
"if you were under the impression that Harry can't produce a fully Patronus, therefore not a full 'proper' spell, then why is being hauled in here for performing a spell in front of a Muggle?" the blond asked quickly.  
Fudge became instantly flustered, fiddling awkwardly with his gavel, "a wand was still presented in front of a Muggle!" he finally exclaimed.  
"the cousin was unconscious, we were on a blind corner and the only one who properly witnessed it was myself and that woman." Draco said.  
"so someone else did witness." Umbridge smiled wickedly.  
The blond rolled his eyes, "a Squib, she came from a wizard family, I'm sure she is quite aware of wands and spells."  
"a Mrs Figg?" Fudge asked squinting at a piece of paper.  
Harry nodded, "she used to look after me sometimes when i was little, she knows Dumbledore." he told them.  
As if on cue Mrs Figg shuffled in, still in her many pocketed coat, and was looking around in both awe and terror; she gave Harry a small smile, "hello again Harry, you look very smart, quite pompous looking isn't he?" she winked and jabbed a thumb at Fudge.  
Draco was allowed to step down from the stand, it seemed Umbridge was more than sick of his smug smile and quick answers, and tiny Mrs Figg took the stand.  
Not that her statement was much help; as someone without magic in her Mrs Figg was unable to actually see the Dementors, just feel their icy cold presence, so Umbridge looked down her nose at the Squib and Fudge dismissed her quickly.  
"given the evidence by certain witlessness." Fudge sat straighter in his chair, looming at Harry, who wanted to run straight out the door and start a new life somewhere, anywhere but there in the Ministry Courtroom, "I am still inclined to find you guilty."  
Harry's stomach felt like it had been filled with same, or Hagrid's fudge, and his eyesight was beginning to blur at the edges as he began to panic, he could just hear Snuffles barking loudly at the officials.  
"I simply must object!" Draco shouted, "you were given two statements proving his innocence."  
"those statements proved nothing, it simply stands that Dementors do not act on their own as you were inferring." Umbridge snapped.  
There was a beat of silence in the courtroom before Harry broke it, "so someone must have sent them."  
Both Fudge and Umbridge laughed a false laugh that made Harry angry, he stood from the chair, "you don't like that I'm telling people that Voldermort has returned, it looks bad on you." he accused the now worried looking Fudge, "maybe you didn't send them personally but someone sent them to make me keep quiet."  
"that's a good point." Draco agreed, "disgrace Harry and expel him, keep him very quiet."  
Fudge banged his gavel so hard it almost broke, "QUITE!"   
Any further arguments were blown fully out of the courtroom as a full flock of the bird like notes flooding into the courtroom; it was an incredible noise of hundreds of pieces of paper rustling against each other and seemed to be attacking the Minister of Magic.  
With he help a Percy the Minister managed to open all the notes and they all stated that they voted Harry innocent; with a disgruntled bang of his gavel Fudge dismissed the case.  
Draco pulled Harry from the chair, hugging him tight and kissing him on both cheeks, as for Harry he seemed dazed; he'd been so close to losing his wand, his whole life, but it warmed his heart that there really were people on his side.  
Mr Weasley patted Harry happily on the back and Snuffles licked his hands while yipping playfully.  
The corridors back to the phone booth teleport was busy but Harry could see people peering at him and smiling; the people who rallied behind him were silent but happy.


	12. Chapter 12

"we'll have a huge feast tonight, to celebrate." Arthur cheered as they tumbled out of the phone booth.  
"that is if your wife doesn't kill us first." Draco said casually but looked a little worried.  
Harry glanced between Draco and Padfoot, who had both seen the bad side of Molly Weasley the past couple of weeks; it was obvious that the pair of them had snuck out without anyone's permission or knowledge.  
"she might forgive us, since the trial was a success." Mr Weasly said.  
"you don't seem to know Molly very well." Sirius had transformed back as they entered the junk shop again.  
The inviting smell of all of Harry's favourite food cooking greeted them, the figure of Molly holding a huge wooden spoon was less inviting; pink in the face from both working hard in the kitchen and from fury she greeted them with stony silence.  
"Molly!" Mr Weasly pecked his wife on the cheek but she didn't respond, he cleared his throat nervously, "we won." he added quickly.  
Draco went to say something too but Sirius shushed him, "Molly, we.." he tried to explain but the Weasly mother spoke over him.  
"I know very well why you went." Molly snapped, "don't take me for an ignorant fool, but let me remind you that you are still a wanted man," she jabbed the spoon in Sirius's direction, "and you could have easily have been taken." she added firmly to Draco.  
"I was grateful to have them there." Harry injected quickly.  
Molly's face softened a little, as it always did when she spoke to Harry, but she still seemed annoyed, "I understand that dear but these are very much wanted men, we can't be so careless."  
A mumble of sorrys from them seemed to appease Molly for the time being but Harry had the suspicion that she was saving a savage tongue lashing for both Arthur and Sirius once there were no children present.  
During the wondrous dinner Harry recounted what had happened inside the courtroom, appreciating their gasps in all the right places.  
Now that the trial was over, and Harry had been reluctantly cleared of all charges, the next big step was getting ready for the new Hogwarts year.  
Molly, Arthur and Tonks went to Diagon Ally to collect all the school supplies, while Lupin informed them of some of the things they should be covering in the upcoming term.  
Several times Ron crept off to complete the homework he'd promised his mother, and Hermione, that he'd already finished.  
Two days before they would be boarding the train to Hogwarts no one seemed to know quite what to do; with Voldermort now roaming around gathering his scattered followers it seemed a bit odd to be going back to school when all Harry wanted to do was help.  
"surely I'll be more use here." Harry argued with Sirius.  
Sirius slowly drank from the small glass of brown liquid, "you need your education." he finally said.  
"I want to help." Harry insisted.  
"Harry please." Sirius said through gritted teeth, "if it were up to me I'd have you fighting here with us." he took a huge deep breath, "but you are unprepared, plus Hogwarts is the safest place."  
As much as Harry wanted to argue he knew Sirius was right, thoughts of breaking into the Restricted Section of the library sprang to Harry's head to learn as many worthy spells as he could in one year.  
Going to bed Harry went passed the Black Family Tree room he spotted a flash of blond inside; dressed in his silky pyjamas Draco was pacing in circles, his hair in disarray and biting on his thumbnail.  
"what's the matter?" Harry asked.  
Draco had a wild look in his eyes, his brows knitted tightly together, "we go back to Hogwarts soon." he stated breathlessly.  
Walking slowly up the obviously panicking blond Harry took his clammy hand, "well done, i can see why you're second smartest in our year." he tried to lighten the mood but Draco was having none of it.  
"what will happen once we're there?" Draco's voice was getting louder, "they bang on about it being safe but what if it isn't? Look at what happened last year!"  
Harry quickly wrapped the stressed blond in a tight hug,which was only fought against for a second; it was true that Harry had been thinking the same things, the TriWizard Tournament had been very dangerous even with teachers watching and it all resulted in Harry and Cedric being magically kidnapped.  
"what will happen Harry?" Draco finally whispered.  
"I don't know." Harry whispered back, "I'm no good at predicting the future."  
Draco finally forced himself from Harry's hug but didn't step away, he seemed a little less stressed but still nervous.  
"hey, I'm the saviour remember." Harry teased, "I'll protect you."  
There was a ghost of a smile on the blond's face for a moment before he became serious again, "but who's going to protect you?"  
"Dumbledore." Harry said without missing a beat; despite not hearing from the headmaster all summer he still had a huge amount of trust in Dumbledore and in that time of need, Harry needed to trust him more than ever.  
Draco looked like he wanted to say something scathing but bit his tongue and nodded slowly, "okay then, where will I sleep, because i still doubt I will be welcome in the Slytherin dorms."  
"plenty of room in my bed." Harry laughed hugging Draco closer again.  
The Family Tree room had never heard so much laughter.  
Once everyone was asleep Harry crept downstairs to the kitchen to think in peace, also because he had been shocked awake by his usual bad dream of the graveyard; the house sounded strange with no one talking or wondering around, even Kreatcher had taken refuge in his little cupboard.  
Harry thought about what Draco had said about who'd protect him and he knew the answer; everyone was trying to protect him, his parents had died protecting him, his aunt was unwillingly protecting him and Dumbledore had regularly put himself out protecting Harry; even Snape had done his part in protecting him.  
As logic it seemed ridicules that so many people were on duty to protect 'The Saviour' and Harry hated it, people were getting hurt and he had no idea where it was going to end.  
Of course Harry would never voice his worries but it was sometimes nice to orginaise his thoughts in a silent room than have everyone shoving their opinions into his brain.  
Harry knew one thing for sure; he was going to be prepared for the upcoming war.  
Now that he had some of this thoughts in order Harry wrote two letters, one to McGonaglle informing her that Draco would be sleeping in the Gryffindor Tower for the foreseeable future and one to his aunt and uncle telling them the blond will be coming back with him in the summer.  
Pigwigon was thrilled to take the letter to Privet Drive and Hedwig nibbled his fingers before taking the letter to Hogwarts.  
After the letters were safely on their way Harry sat in the dark kitchen for a little longer thinking about how crazy his summer had become, then he heard the soft footfalls outside the room and the door creaked open.  
Even in the darkness Harry could make out Ron's lanky frame, "Harry mate?" Ron whispered.  
"I'm here." Harry whispered back but didn't know why he whispered, there was no one else to disturb.  
Ron slowly and quietly sat next to Harry at the table and didn't speak for a moment, "couldn't you sleep?" he finally asked.  
"of sorts." Harry snorted softly, "I have this constant nightmare about what happened in the graveyard." he hadn't told either of his best friends about what happened that day, except Voldermort coming back, "just needed to clear my head."  
"ya' know I'm sorry don't you." Ron said, "for not getting you out of that house before we had to come here."  
Harry waved him off, "it's fine, like you're mum says 'we're children'" he didn't mean to immediate Mrs Weasley's words bitterly.  
"you forget I know you Harry, you dwell on stuff, even when you say you have let it go." Ron rushed out.  
It was hard to see Ron's freckled face in the dark but Harry knew his best friend was frowning, "is this because I've been spending time with Draco?" Harry asked.  
Ron tensed then relaxed, sighing deeply, "I guess we're the same, dwelling on things."  
"Draco's done some horrific stuff, nobody can deny that, not even him." Harry said, "but he's trying and I believe there's good in him because I love him."  
There was silence again but it wasn't awkward; Harry felt a little weird that he'd confessed his love for the blond to Ron instead to Draco's face but the words had felt so right.  
"he has been okay, for a posh git." Ron muttered.  
"I'm not expecting best buds." Harry laughed lightly.  
"yeah, yeah I know. Just don't ditch us, okay?" There was an uncertainty in Ron's voice that made Harry's heart clench a little.  
Harry placed a firm hand on Ron's shoulder, "you guys are my best friends, I would never leave you." he said sternly.  
For a moment Harry thought that must have been how Sirius felt when his dad actually started dating his mum; scared of losing someone treasured to another.   
Somehow in the darkness the pair made their way back to the bedroom; outlined by the moonlight was Draco sitting up in bed, arms folded and face frowning but he didn't say anything when Harry climbed into bed.  
"why are you awake?" Harry asked in a low whisper.  
Very slowly the blond reached out to grab Harry's hand, the frown melting away, "I've just realised that I haven't steamed my uniform." an obvious lie but Harry didn't push it.  
"we'll put it over the steaming kettle in the morning." Harry teased and Draco smiled.  
The next day consisted mainly of dragging all the trunks down to the lower level before filling them with their personal items; Sirius had to stopped from helping the twins from packing what seemed to be the entire stock of Zonko's and Harry saw later that they had barely succeeded packing it all as their trunks struggled to close.  
Nobody slept well that night, between nightmares and nerves they all settled on laying in the darkness in silence till Mrs Weasley burst into the room at six to wake them all up.  
"Harry, psst, Harry." Sirius whispered to Harry as he left the bathroom, "in here." he motioned to the empty study.  
Sirius had been banned from leaving the house again after his stunt going to the Ministry, so he'd been sulking upstairs while everyone did their last bits of packing.  
"sit here Harry." Sirius said sitting on the bare floor.  
The study had been filled with all of Sirius's father's things; dark magic books and lots of dodgy looking receipts and notes but everything had been dragged out to be burnt so now it was just another empty room for Sirius to brood in.  
Harry sat happily next to his godfather, Sirius pulled out a small battered photograph, "this is from when the Order was first established." Sirius told him with a nostalgic smile, "look there's me."  
He pointed out his younger self, wearing a cheeky grin and leather jacket, and next to him was James, looking like an older Harry wearing a matching jacket to Sirius and his arm around Lily who was round with pregnancy; Remus was on the other side of Sirius looking tired but welcomed and even Wormtail was smiling.  
In the middle of the photo was Dumbledore, obviously wearing brightly coloured robes, and a slightly younger Moody with a few less battle scars.  
"wow, it's amazing." Harry breathed, soaking in the whole photo like he'd never see it again.  
"we were your regular freedom fighters, all going out together to fight the bad guys." Sirius sighed deeply, a sad smile, "and here we all are again."  
Harry was listening to his godfather talking but he was focused on his mum's face, "do you think they'd be proud? That I'm fighting like they did." he asked softly.  
"I don't think they'd be happy that we're fighting the exact bloody war as before but I know they'd be proud of how you're handling it." Sirius gave him a proud smile.  
Suddenly the door burst open, "what are you doing?" Hermione asked breathlessly, "we have to leave now or we'll hit the busy London traffic and we'll never get to Kings Cross in time."


	13. Chapter 13

Somehow five Muggle taxis had been ordered, the drivers looked very confused about loading several heavy trunks plus two owls cages and a cat but they didn't say much; the traffic was swelling all around them it was a miracle that they made it to Kings Cross in time.  
Harry had to help Mr Weasley pay the drivers, trying to hide the huge wad of twenty pound notes Mr Weasley pulled out from curious onlookers.  
Platform nine and three quarters was packed, the huge scarlet Hogwarts Express was gleaming under all the thick smoke billowing out onto the platform and Harry felt a rush of excitement.  
After all the trunks and pets had been safely put in compartments Mr and Mrs Weasley gave everyone hugs, even a startled Draco.  
"be good all of you." Mrs Weasly told them firmly before hugging them again.  
"we'll keep you all posted about the Order." Mr Weasly dropped his voice, "make sure you study hard." he gave Harry a quick glance.  
"Draco! Draco!" Someone came through the fog shouting Draco's name; it was pug faced Pansy Parkinson, followed by Blaise Zabini, her voice was shrill and loud.  
"oh no." Draco breathed, trying to hide his face in Harry's shoulder; several people paused to watch as Pansy continued to shout the blond's name as she approached.  
Pansy immediately seized Draco's arm and Harry instinctively slapped it away, "what in Merlin's name are you doing?" she hissed, dramatically rubbing her slapped hand, "Crabbe said you'd gone AWOL."  
Standing straight Draco glared at the Slytherin girl, "I have not gone AWOL, I was sick of being abused in my own home."  
Harry gripped the blond's slightly shaking hand, "is there anything you actually need Parkinson?" he snapped.  
Pansy gasped dramatically again, finally clocking the pair holding hands, "what is Salazar's name are you doing holding hands with him?" she spat, "you really have lost your mind."  
"because I actually like him." the blond imitated her shrill voice, "I've made some changes to my life, ones that are going to see me into adulthood."  
"you are completely turning your back on you're own family." Pansy scoffed, rolling her small eyes.  
Harry had a bubble of rage that was ready to pop but with so many people watching he was fighting stay calm, "are you really that against Draco living to see the end of this war? Or do you simply like dragging everyone you meeting into the dark ebyss of your own sad little life?" he said as calmly as he could.  
Looking offended Pansy went to argue back but saw the rest of the Weasley clan standing protectively close by, also Hermione holding a heavy book, they had been joined by Nellive carrying what seemed to be a spitting plant and Lee Jordon, who seemed all to ready to happily commentate a fight.  
"just leave it Pansy, you're wasting your breath." Blaise said flatly and, after huffing loudly, Pansy stalked away.  
Blaise ran his dark eyes over the blond, holding Harry's hand tightly, and his mouth twitched into a smile, "you got out then." he said quietly.  
"I did. Join us." Draco said.  
Very slowly Blaise shook his head, "I can't, you know that, maybe one day but not now." he turned to walk away but paused, "I'm still your friend Draco, don't forget that." he once again paused before leaving, "take good care of him Potter, he's so bloody high maintenance." and he finally disappeared into the smoke.  
Draco suddenly slumped against Harry, "that was fucking exhausting." he breathed.  
Laughing Harry pushed the blond towards the open compartment door, "you can sleep on the train, hurry."   
The Hogwarts Expressed whistled loudly, billowing even more smoke before finally moving; many children hung dangerously out of the windows waving goodbye to family members.  
"I'm so excited for this new year, Lupin was telling me all about the new material we'll be covering." Hermione rambled on about everything Lupin had already told them.  
"I'm excited for Quiddich." Ron said once Hermione had finished twitting.  
Draco had laid himself across one of the seats, his head in Harry's lap, "I am too but I will feel so bad about beating my own boyfriend."  
"you've never beaten me at Quiddich." Harry laughed, tempted to push the blond off the seat but resisted, "I ain't about to go easy on you just cos you kiss good."  
"well there goes my game plan." Draco joked with a very good poker face.  
Harry poked him between his pale eyebrows, "use that brain of your's for something other than cheating."  
"not cheating, it's strategy." Draco pouted.  
All too soon the Trolley Witch was making her rounds, selling sweet cauldron pasties and chilled pumpkin juice and the scenery outside went from houses to bare countryside.  
Ron had disappeared to find Fred and George and Hermione was talking very giggly with Ginny; Harry was staring out at the darkening sky thinking about what he was actually going to do with his year.  
"galleon for your thoughts?" Draco inquired.  
"this might be my last year at Hogwarts, the war might be closer than anyone thinks." Harry spoke very quietly, so only Draco could hear, "I have to be prepared. I've been nothing but lucky all these years."  
"there's nothing wrong with being lucky." the blond said.  
Harry sighed, "until it runs out, all spells stop working at some point, I don't want my death to be the end of my lucky streak."  
Draco flinched but didn't say anything, "what's the plan then?"  
"I've got to find out as much as I can, I'm sick of being left out of the loop 'for my own good'." Harry had a patchy track record for finding crucial information, normally he looked quiet deeply and found things that really hoped, then other times it fell into his lap and other times he was completely wrong with his evidence.  
As the sky became an inky black the bright lights of Hogwarts became illuminated and the train was coming to a halt; there was the ruckus of everyone getting ready to get off and last minuet putting on of uniforms.  
Draco gave a dramatic sigh, "well I'm ready to be the leaf between the red roses." he gestured to his Slytherin green tie and Harry's Gryffindor red one.  
Ignoring everyone clattering passed their compartment Harry pulled the blond towards him and kissed him sweetly.  
Harry, Ron and Hermione all called hello to Hagrid as they passed towards the invisibly pulled carriages; Professor McGonagal was waiting for the first years at the entrance but cast both Harry and Draco a pointed look.  
"did you get my letter Professor?" Harry asked.  
McGonagalle seemed stressed but her sharp face soften a little once she spoke to Harry, "arrangements have been made." she told him.  
"did you manage to get another whole bed into our dorm?" Harry pushed.  
"Potter, there was no room for that." McGonagalle smirked, "Dumbledore figured it was easier to simply make your bed bigger. Now along with you." she shooed him away.  
Harry quickly grabbed Draco's hand as they entered the Great Hall, to stop him going over to the Slytherin table out of habit, and received some confused looks from the other tables.  
Everyone on the Gryffindor table seemed ready to burst with questions about The Saviour Harry Potter holding hands with Soon-To-Be-Death Eater Draco Malfoy but the pair quickly found themselves surrounded by the Weasly clan so no-one could get near.  
"oh no." Draco suddenly breathed, "shit, Harry look." he pointed openly at the teachers table.  
There seated next to a very sour and sullen looked Snape and next to where McGonaglle would be sitting was the brightly pink, toad like figure of Dolorus Umbridge.  
Harry thought of several swear words he dare not say out loud and felt his heart clench; he knew he had to study for this war but he had a horrible feeling Umbridge was going to be in the way a lot, especially when Dumbedore announced her as the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.  
Sharing a slightly panicked look with Ron and Hermione, Harry gripped Draco's hand tightly under the table, suddenly feeling uneasy, "this year, more than ever, we need to stick together." he thought fearlessly and would do everything in his power and honour to make it stick to that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who patiently waited for me to finished this story, I unfortunate regularly dip in and out of existence when i write longer stories.   
> I hope everyone enjoyed this beautiful disaster.  
> I'm sorry for any spelling mistakes or grammar problems.  
> There probably won't be a sequel, sorry   
> Remember to leave some feedback, it's nice to hear your thoughts


End file.
